Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Aeryon ScoutOn Monday (May 5, 2014), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that the University of Alaska’s unmanned aircraft system (UAS) test site has become operational — the second of six test organizations selected to take part in the congressionally mandated UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS) initiative that the agency is leading.
By Inside GNSS
A shift in the Air Force’s acquisition plan should shave a year off the time needed to finish development of new M-code–equipped receivers and potentially inspire more commercially flavored innovation — and perhaps even the entry of new vendors.
The new approach enables the Pentagon to fulfill a congressional mandate to buy only M-code receivers after fiscal year 2017 and could help convince the user community, jaded by previous delays, to speed adoption of the more resilient devices.
By Dee Ann Divis
Table 1, Figures 2 & 3Smartphone apps represent the most prominent market for GNSS. No other device or community of users has achieved a larger growth and market penetration in the period 2008–2013.
Apple introduced the first GPS capability on a smartphone in June 2008 with the iPhone3, and one year later Samsung introduced its Samsung Galaxy, incorporating the first GPS receiver for this brand.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. military is moving toward using the signals of other satellite navigation constellations to help ensure access to positioning and timing information and to potentially thwart spoofing.
The impending shift came to light in remarks made by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III during a talk last week (April 23, 2014) at the National Press Club.
By Inside GNSS
Teresa Takei, DoD CIO. DoD photoTeri Takai, the Department of Defense’s chief information officer (DoD CIO) announced April 28 that she would be leaving at the end of this week. She is the top advisor to the secretary of defense on navigation and timing plus a host of other subjects including telecommunications, satellite communications, and spectrum issues.
By Inside GNSS
GPS Block IIR-M and IIF satellites began transmitting CNAV messages on the L2C and L5 signals, on Monday (April 28, 2014).
In a Notice Advisory to NAVSTAR Users (NANU), Air Force Space Command announced that it would begin implementing the civil navigation Message Types (MTs) 10 and 11 (with satellite ephemerides), 30 (satellite clock data, and corrections for ionospheric and group delay), and 33 (parameters related to correlating coordinated universal time (UTC-USNO) time with GPS system time). MT12 (reduced almanac) will not be broadcast at this time.
By Inside GNSS
Brad ParkinsonAmong the key topics to come out of this year’s European Navigation Conference (ENC 2014) in Rotterdam is how safe — or unsafe — we really are, and who in Europe cares. The answer is, a lot of people care, but almost no one can do anything about it.
Professor David Last, strategic advisor at the General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK & Ireland, made the case before the conference had even started, at the pre-conference “Resilient PNT Forum.”
By Inside GNSS
ARA Nighthawk micro UAVNewly enforced limits on using military airspace to test unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are rattling test range managers across the country and appear to have caused at least one operation to drop its plans for an independent test site for unmanned vehicles.
By Inside GNSS
The Republic of Korea will return next month with a new tender for implementing an eLoran system, driven by North Korean jamming of GPS in the region.
Initial plans to establish an eLoran-based back up faltered due to technical and requirements challenges that held prospective vendors back from bidding on the contracts. Details of the new plan were revealed in a presentation today (April 14, 2014) at a Resilient PNT Forum held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in advance of the European Navigation Conference (ENC 2014).
By Inside GNSS
Big Sur coastline looking north to Bixby Canyon BridgeEarly bird registration ends Friday, April 11, 2014.
The IEEE/ ION PLANS 2014: Position Location And Navigation System Conference will take place May 5-8 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort and Spa in Monterey, California.
This biennial conference and industry exhibition explores the field of navigation — from fundamental research, to applications, to field test results.
By Inside GNSS
The third IEEE international conference on "Ubiquitous Positioning, Indoor Navigation and Location-Based Service" (UPINLBS 2014) will be held on 20-21 Nov. 2014 at the Omni Hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA.
Keynote speakers will include:
UPINLBS 2014 will feature technical papers and presentations on a variety of topics such as:
By Inside GNSS
The Russians may have taken a rain check, but Asian representatives were out in force at this year’s Munich Satellite Navigation Summit, held last week (March 25–27, 2014). The general message from China, Japan, and India was that they are moving forward quickly with their own GNSS systems, while seeking active cooperation, both technical and commercial, with international partners.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin more than $245 million in contract options to complete production of its seventh and eighth GPS Block III satellites.
The two space vehicles (SVs 07–08) received initial funding under a February 2013 long-lead material contract for the Air Force’s second set of four satellites, GPS III SV 05–08. Similar to this current award announced yesterday (April 1, 2014), the Air Force exercised an option to complete production of SVs 05–06 in December 2013.
By Inside GNSS
