Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Ray Clore, U.S. State Department. Peter Gutierrez photoAlmost half of the sessions at the International Navigation Conference (INC) 2015 held this week (February 24–26) in Manchester, England, were devoted to the theme of GNSS resilience and vulnerability, a topic that Dana Goward of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation has been trying to drive home for years.
By Inside GNSS
U.S. lawmakers, dissatisfied with the pace of international efforts to prevent losses like that of an Malaysia Airlines plane last year, may push through legislation requiring tracking capability on planes operating in the United States.
Nearly a year after flight MH370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a year away from adopting a standard for aircraft tracking technology, Ambassador Michael Lawson, the U. S. representative to the organization told lawmakers on Wednesday.
By Inside GNSS
A range of new technologies for indoor positioning and navigation were unveiled at the International Navigation Conference (INC) 2015 held this week (February 24–26) in Manchester, England.
Organized by the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN), the premier event in this new conference series focused on GNSS, its strengths and weaknesses.
The latest high-profile incident involving a drone — the January 26 discovery of a crashed quadcopter on the White House lawn — highlights how far events have gotten ahead of regulatory plans and policy for unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
By Inside GNSS
Apparently working overtime during the President’s Day weekend, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today (February 15, 2015) proposed a framework of regulations <http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/recently_published> that would allow routine use of certain small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) while maintaining flexibility to accommodate future technological innovations. An overview of the small UAS rule can be viewed at
By Inside GNSS
Berchtesgaden, GermanyThe Galileo Test and Development Environment (GATE), located near Berchtesgaden in southern Bavaria, Germany, has been recertified for operation, extending the operational life of the facility through January 2016, according to its operator, IFEN GmbH
GATE enables companies and research organizations to use the testbed for various experiments, taking advantage of the eight ground transmitters emitting the Galileo signals towards the 25-square-kilometer core test area.
By Inside GNSS
The 2nd and 19th Space Operations Squadrons (SOPS), who operate the GPS satellite constellation from Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, are hosting GPS week February 15-20 to honor their heritage and interact directly with the Colorado Springs community.
Among other goals, organizers hope that it will help clear up common misunderstandings among GPS users who may have used the GPS navigation system either on their phone or car and somehow ended up lost, cold, and hungry.
By Inside GNSS
A Federal Register notice published today (February 13, 2015) announced a third U.S. Department of Transportation workshop on March 12 to continue discussions of the Global Positioning System (GPS) Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment Plan.
The workshop will focus on identification of GPS and GNSS receivers to be considered for testing that are representative of the current categories of user applications and discuss a GPS/GNSS receiver test plan.
By Inside GNSS
A U.S. District Court has dismissed most of two lawsuits brought in 2013 against GNSS manufacturers stemming from the effort by LightSquared Inc. to build a high-powered broadband wireless network using RF spectrum adjacent to the GPS L1 band and allocated for mobile satellite services (MSS).
By Inside GNSS
Two more Galileo full operational capability (FOC) satellites have reached French Guiana in preparation for a late-March launch from the European spaceport there.
The seventh and eighth Galileo satellites — the third and fourth FOC spacecraft — will be launched together by Soyuz during last week of March, following the European Commission’s endorsement of the resumption of Galileo launches that had been interrupted after the previous Soyuz launch last August placed satellites into the wrong orbit.
Lockheed Martin and Dominion Resources, Inc. have co-developed a new “smart grid” technology called VirtuGrid, which will enable remote detection of power outages for faster mapping and response. This collaboration between the two companies brings together Lockheed Martin’s technology and Dominion’s experience in distribution engineering.
Trimble introduced today (February 10, 2015) the R1 GNSS receiver, a pocket-sized, standalone, single-frequency (L1/G1) receiver that works with iOS, Android or Window mobile handhelds, smart phones, and tablets using Bluetooth connectivity.
When paired with a smart device, the receiver/antenna combination adds GNSS geo-location capabilities to transform consumer devices into high-accuracy mobile data collection systems. The 44–parallel channel receiver can track GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) signals.
The annual Space Weather Workshop will take place on April 13 – 17 2015 at the Millennium Hotel in Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
Registration will be open soon.
This meeting will bring together customers, forecasters, vendors, government agencies and researchers of space weather information.
By Inside GNSS
