Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The 49th CGSIC meeting will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn in midtown Savannah, Georgia on Monday and Tuesday, September 21-22, before the 2009 Institute of Navigation GNSS conference.
By Inside GNSS
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.
By Inside GNSS
PCTEL, Inc., has introduced its new Medallion GSM/WIFI/WIMAX/GPS multi-band antenna featuring a rugged low profile housing that allows omnidirectional reception.
(Updated August 4, 2009)
A GPS community consensus is emerging that the initial proposal for mitigating the L1 signal anomaly causing elevation-dependent ranging errors on the SVN49 satellite isn’t the best approach.
By Inside GNSS
"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.
By Inside GNSS
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.
By Inside GNSS
(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.
By Inside GNSS
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.
By Inside GNSS
Space 2009 will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California from September 14 to 17.
By Inside GNSS
Spirent Communications has launched its GSS6700 Multi-GNSS Constellation Simulator with test test capability GPS, GLONASS, and the planned European Galileo system.
By Inside GNSS
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.
By Inside GNSS
Comments submitted to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) suggest that the Galileo program is finally nearing a decision on commercial use of specifications for its Open Service (OS), but U.S. officials remain concerned that this nation’s equipment manufacturers not be placed at a competitive disadvantage. Meanwhile, Galileo simulators appear to finally be reaching receiver manufacturers, despite the absence of official approval.
By Inside GNSS
UK electronics design and manufacturer Racelogic has released new scenario-generation software, SatGen, intended to simplify creating custom scenarios for the company’s LabSat GPS Simulator.
According to Racelogic, the software can simulate user-defined dynamic GPS scenarios from scratch anywhere in the world.
By Inside GNSS
