GPS Archives - Page 54 of 142 - Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design

May 1, 2016

FCC Opens GPS-Adjacent Ligado Proposal for Comment

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is officially asking for feedback on a proposal by Ligado Networks to repurpose frequencies near the GPS band for a terrestrial broadband network. The long-delayed public notice and comment period is a step in the approval process, although there is no assurance that Ligado’s plan for a new wireless service — which may still cause interference to GPS receivers — will get the go-ahead.

By Dee Ann Divis

April 27, 2016

SpaceX Snares GPS III Launch Services Contract

The Air Force announced today (April 27, 2016) the award to Space Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of an $82.7-million contract for GPS III Launch Services.

The Air Force characterized the contract as “the first competitively sourced National Security Space (NSS) launch services contract in more than a decade.” However, a decision last November by the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed, not to compete for this GPS III launch effectively left SpaceX as the only bidder.

By Inside GNSS

Lawmaker Presses DoD on eLoran’s GPS Backup Role

John Garamendi

[Updated April 29, 2016] A key lawmaker is pressing the Department of Defense (DoD) about its lack of support for a plan it helped devised to protect the US from the consequences of losing GPS service.

By Inside GNSS

[uam_ad id="183541"]

April 22, 2016

Russian Aerospace University Release New GPS Easy Suite

Kai Borre, now a professor and senior researcher at Russia’s Samara State Aerospace University, has released a new version of Easy Suite, a collection of Matlab-based scripts and explanatory text that illustrated a variety of common GPS issues.

The first Easy Suite files (easy1–easy10) were published in the periodical GPS Solutions in 2003. Those were augmented by a continuation (easy11–easy18) in Inside GNSS in the years 2009–2010.

By Inside GNSS

April 20, 2016

DHS Demonstrates eLoran Precision Timing Technology at the New York Stock Exchange

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced today (April 20, 2016) the successful demonstration of Enhanced Loran (eLoran) for precision timing of financial transactions at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The demonstration at the NYSE was hosted by Juniper Networks on April 19 and presented to technical representatives from the financial services, energy, and communication sectors.

By Inside GNSS

April 15, 2016

EU, UK Resolve Galileo Signal Patent Dispute

The European Union (EU) has reached a deal with the British Ministry of Defense resolving a patent issue that could have limited the adoption of signals from the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation constellation.

"The European Commission [EC] has secured access to UK-owned patents related to Galileo signal in space technologies which will allow for their use by chipset and receiver manufacturers on a royalty free basis," according to a joint UL/EC statement supplied by a spokesperson for the UK’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory.

By Inside GNSS

U.S. Military Programs Address GPS Loss, Degradation

Stephen Welby, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Department of Defense photo

The Pentagon is executing a technology offset strategy designed to recapture some of the military advantage conveyed by America’s innovation edge.

By Inside GNSS

[uam_ad id="183541"]

GPS and Other Data Suggest That Climate Change Is Driving Shifts in Earth’s Polar Motion

GRACE satellites. NASA illustration

NASA scientists, using GPS data collected from the space agency’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite, have concluded that shifts in geographic polar motion stem from changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) and the global cryosphere (the frozen water part of the Earth system).

By Inside GNSS

April 13, 2016

Raytheon GPS OCX Passes Test Milestone

Raytheon Corporation announced today (April 12, 2016) that the company successfully passed the first formal qualification test milestone for the Next Generation GPS Operational Control System (OCX) on March 4.

By Inside GNSS

March 31, 2016

Air Force, Army Reach for New GPS Technologies

The Air Force and the Army are looking for companies interested in helping advance a new generation of technology for GPS satellites, ground stations, and receivers.

Both military services have issued requests for information (RFIs), formal announcements through the Federal Business Opportunities website <FBO.gov> to gain insight into current industry capabilities and interest, as part of programs aimed at boosting overall positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) performance and dealing with issues such as jamming and spoofing.

By Inside GNSS

Gen. Hyten: Raytheon’s OCX the Best Bet for New GPS Ground System

Air Force Space Commander Gen. John Hyten at subcommittee hearing

While acknowledging the fury over problems with the new GPS ground system, the head of Air Force Space Command told lawmakers this month that finishing the program with the current contractor was the best way forward.

That contactor, Raytheon, is years behind on the Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX), a project whose price tag may now top $4 billion.

By Inside GNSS

March 28, 2016

Up in the AIRR

Anyone who has sat through several iterations of a slide presentation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a better way to do things.

As speakers flip through an exhaustively vetted series of PowerPoint slides, squeezing out a new bullet point or two from one version to the next six months later, watching paint dry seems like a more productive — and briefer — use of one’s time. The agency sometimes brings a whole new meaning to the concept of geological time.

By Dee Ann Divis

GNSS Hotspots | March 2016

One of 12 magnetograms recorded at Greenwich Observatory during the Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1859

1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)

Nouméa ground station after the flood

A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat

Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV

Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)

“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto

The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder.