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GPS

August 17, 2009

Air Force Launches Last GPS Block IIR-M Satellite

GPS IIR-21(M)

The U.S. Air Force successfully launched the last in the series of eight modernized GPS (IIR-M) satellites today (August 17) at 6:35 a.m. (EDT).

Using the Space Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, the satellite was carried into space aboard the last of the Air Force’s United Launch Alliance Delta II rockets.

GPS IIR-21(M) will join the constellation of 30 operational satellites on-orbit, assuming a position in plane E, slot 3 and replacing space vehicle number 40 (SVN40). The Air Force expects to set the satellite healthy for navigation users worldwide next month.

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By Inside GNSS
August 11, 2009

Spirent Launches New Signal Generator

Spirent Communications plc has launched the GSS6300 Multi-GNSS Signal Generator, intended for high-volume production test applications for devices that use commercial GPS/SBAS, GLONASS, and/or Galileo receivers.

The GSSS6300 provides a comprehensive remote control interface, designed to facilitate integration into automated test equipment (ATE) environments.

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By Inside GNSS
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August 6, 2009

Upcoming Block IIR-(21)M Launch Wraps Up Generation of GPS Satellites

The scheduled August 17 launch of GPS satellite IIR-(21)M — also known by its space vehicle number SVN50 — will mark the end of a couple of eras: the final launch of the Lockheed Martin–built replenishment generation (Block IIR) of GPS satellites and the last Air Force launch using the Delta II rocket.

Notably, SVN50 will not have a payload connected to the J2 reserve auxiliary payload port that proved problematical with the L5 demonstration payload on the previous GPS satellite, SVN49, and possibly on other Block IIR/IIRMs.

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By Inside GNSS
July 30, 2009

2009 FAA New Technologies Workshop

"Future Flight Technologies – the Wings of NextGen" is the theme of the Federal Aviation Administration’s 2009 New Technologies Workshop.

Registration and exhibit space are FREE.

The conference will focus on innovations for the transition to the Next Generation Air Transportation System as well as updates on existing programs, technology and new systems now in development.

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By Inside GNSS
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July 29, 2009

U.S. Congress Working on 2010 Appropriations for Loran-C and eLoran as GPS Backup

Enhanced Loran (eLoran) has survived through multiple generations of official ambivalence about the proposed backup for the U.S. Global Positioning System. Currently, the program is in (almost) on-again status.

The latest chapter began with President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget proposal, which called for termination of Loran in the coming year. At a May 7 press conference, the president described Loran as a system that’s been eclipsed by the rise of GPS.

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By Inside GNSS
July 23, 2009

U.S. House of Representatives Trims $97 Million from OCX Budget, Cites Contract Delays

(Updated 11 a.m. (PDT), includes additional details from the GPS Wing)

A $97.4-million reduction in the GPS program made by the U.S. House of Representatives would affect the modernization program for the operational control segment (OCX), not the GPS III satellite budget as reported earlier.

In adopting the action of its appropriations committee, the full House approved H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense (DoD) Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget, on July 30. The bill was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 3. In its report on the bill, the House committee said it made the cuts because of contract delays in the OCX program.

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By Inside GNSS
July 21, 2009

ISRO Extends Raytheon Contract for GAGAN GPS Augmentation System

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has awarded a new $82 million contract to Raytheon Company to modernize the Indian air navigation system.

Raytheon will build the ground stations for the GPS-Aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), and the Indian Space Research Organization will provide the space segment and additional ground equipment. GAGAN will provide satellite-based navigation for civil aviation over Indian airspace and adjoining areas in south and east Asia.

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By Inside GNSS
July 18, 2009

GPS Signal Anomalies: Is SVN49 Just the Tip of the Iceberg?

Block IIR Satellite L-Band Transmitter Array of 12 Helical Antennas. Lockheed Martin photo.

After GPS Wing engineers and contractors figure out how to solve the elevation-dependent signal anomalies on the latest GPS satellite — Space Vehicle Number 49 (SVN49), they may want to take a look at another nine Block IIR and IIR-M spacecraft that European scientists say exhibit similar, but less severe, behavior.

In an article that will appear in the July/August issue of Inside GNSS, Tim Springer and Florian Dilssner, GNSS engineers in the Navigation Support Office of the European Space Operations Center (ESOC), described the effects of the anomaly as well as the U.S. Air Force’s initial attempts to solve the problem by altering the broadcast satellite orbital positions and time. A version of the article was posted June 25 on the magazine’s website.

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By Inside GNSS
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