Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Sen. Al FrankenLess than 90 days after government watchdogs reported drivers are not being clearly informed about privacy risks posed by vehicle-location data, the head of the U.S. Senate’s privacy committee announced legislation to give consumers more control over how information about their whereabouts is collected and used.
By Inside GNSS
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) are enforcing limitations on who can use military airspace, a move that will curtail the number of possible places researchers can fly tests with unmanned aircraft.
By Inside GNSS
A modernized GLONASS satellite launched on last week has begun its commissioning phase in slot 18 of the Russian GNSS constellations orbital plane 3. It was the first successful GLONASS launch since the loss of three spacecraft in the crash of a Proton rocket last July.
Telemetry communications were established shortly after the GLONASS-M spacecraft (designated GLONASS number 754) reached its orbit following its launch March 23 (2:54 a.m. Moscow time on March 24), from Plesetsk space center on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket.
By Inside GNSS
The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) 2014 will officially kick off on April 15 at the European Navigation Conference (ENC) in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, but the 11th round of the annual event opens Tuesday (April 1).
Launched by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen in 2004 with three partner regions, the ESNC has grown into a network of GNSS innovation and expertise with more than 20 regions taking part worldwide. Since 2004, the ESNC has received almost 2,400 submissions from 4,263 teams and named 204 award winners.
By Inside GNSS
Matthias Petschke, European Commission Director of EU Satellite Navigation ProgramsAfter an organizational hiccup led to its cancellation last year, the “reloaded” Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2014 successfully re-established the event as Europe’s leading forum for GNSS policy dialog.
By Inside GNSS
u-blox CAM-M8Q moduleSwiss-based u‑blox has introduced the CAM-M8Q GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/QZSS antenna module. The module integrates a u-blox M8 satellite receiver IC plus SAW filter, LNA, TCXO, RTC, passives, and a pre-tuned GNSS chip antenna in a 9.6 x 14.0 x 1.95 mm package.
According to the company, the surface-mount antenna module combines low power consumption with high-sensitivity, high jamming immunity, and concurrent GNSS operation (GPS/GLONASS, GPS/BeiDou, or GLONASS/BeiDou), offering a drop-in solution product designers and system integrators.
By Inside GNSS
On Saturday (March 22, 2014) two geostationary L-band transponders, GEO-2s, were successfully launched on board the SES ASTRA 5B satellite from the European Space Port in Kourou, French Guiana.
The new generation transponders will provide higher accuracy positioning signals to both civil and professional users of EGNOS-enabled receivers and ensure the continuity and quality of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) open service and safety-of-life services for the next 15 years, according to the European GNSS Agency (GSA).
By Inside GNSS
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. 
Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram
Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST
1. WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Detroit, Michigan USA
With the optimism of college-bound seniors touring the Ivy League, GPS managers have been weighing options to dramatically change the GPS constellation. Now, after studying the costs, considering the benefits, and assessing the funding climate, officials have made the starkly fiscal decision to stick close to home and take a few extra years to finish.
By Dee Ann Divis
A. J. Van DierendonckThe world’s GNSS systems are entering a phase of transformation — modernization of existing systems (the U.S. Global Positioning System and Russia’s GLONASS) and development of new systems (China’s BeiDou and Europe’s Galileo) that benefit from the lessons learned from the original GNSSs.
Notable among the modernization initiatives is an interest in implementing new satellite signal designs. These include the GPS L5, L2C, and L1C signals as well as those signals designed for Galileo and BeiDou. GLONASS designers are also working on modernized signals.
By Inside GNSS
CSRIC E911 candidate technology test results: Test calls with successful position fixesRules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to improve the ability to locate cell phone users placing emergency calls from indoors could affect firms providing chipsets and location-focused infrastructure as well as phone companies.
By Inside GNSS
Aviation officials are looking at combining data from the Air Force’s planned GPS ground system with services from other monitoring systems — or even relying on other systems entirely — to save money on monitoring the GPS civil signals.
By Inside GNSS
Article EquationsWorking Papers explore the technical and scientific themes that underpin GNSS programs and applications. This regular column is coordinated by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günter Hein, head of Europe’s Galileo Operations and Evolution.
By Inside GNSS
