Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Six months ago, the FCC unanimously granted Ligado’s amended license modification applications to deploy a low-power terrestrial nationwide network in the L-Band. Petitions for reconsideration remain pending, interest groups continue to agitate for change, Congress awaits answers to conflict-of-interest questions—and Ligado presses forward as planned.
By Dawn M.K. Zoldi (Colonel, USAF, Ret.)
A broad cross-industry coalition sent a strongly worded letter to the Senate Commerce Committee warning that the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Ligado Order that impacts GPS, if left in place, “would upend decades of sound spectrum policy, negatively impact a significant cross-section of commercial, federal, and academic users who rely on the many different L-band satellite services, and threaten the safety of most Americans.”
By Inside GNSS
Leidos showcased its system for airborne navigation in GPS-denied environments at the recent Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2020 conference in Washington, D.C., October 11–13.The system, called Assured Data Engine for Positioning and Timing (ADEPT), compares the high-resolution camera view below a plane to a detailed satellite map.
By Inside GNSS
Collins Aerospace unveiled the second iteration of its Mounted Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing System (MAPS) for warfighters at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2020 conference
By Inside GNSS
Collins Aerospace received a program-of-record contract to mature and integrate a positioning, navigation and timing system for the U.S. Army’s for the Army’s increasingly sophisticated manned ground vehicles. The Mounted Assured Position Navigation and Timing System (MAPS) will maintain the integrity of positioning and timing during operations in GPS-contested environments.
By Inside GNSS
The fifth GPS III satellite rising in 2021 will ride aboard a previously used Falcon 9 first-stage booster, in a first for a National Security Space Launch mission. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) has contracted with the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center Launch Enterprise to reuse the booster rockets.
By Inside GNSS
Orolia Defense & Security has received security approval from SMC Production Corps (Space and Missile Command’s Production Corps, located at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, California) for its BroadSim MNSA (Modernized Navstar Security Algorithm), a software-defined GNSS simulator.
By Inside GNSS
It has become fashionable of late in U.S. government circles to undermine the U.S. defense forces. The General Accounting Office (GAO), the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and the White House (POTUS) have all pitched in, doing their share to weaken the capability and downgrade the tools with which our warfighters enter conflict.
A favorable GAO ruling discounted Congressional allegations that the FCC skipped a key legal step before granting Ligado’s controversial application. This positions the broadband company closer to its target and to ongoing interference with GPS signals.
By Dawn M.K. Zoldi (Colonel, USAF, Ret.)
The new GPS Military-Code (M-Code) Early Use (MCEU) hardware and software upgrade successfully took place on July 27 at the GPS Operational Control System (OCS) at the Master Control Station at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado and Alternate Master Control Stations at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
By Inside GNSS
Microchip Technology’s new time and frequency server with an embedded M-Code GPS receiver gives protection to military communication systems, radar and networks from the threats associated with intentional GPS jamming and spoofing, as well as cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure.
By Inside GNSS
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced that he has placed a hold on the nomination of Mike O’Rielly to a third term as Federal Communications Commision (FCC) Commissioner until O’Rielly publicly commits to vote to overturn the current Ligado Order.
By Inside GNSS
