Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
L-3 Interstate Electronics Corporation (L-3 IEC) announced today (March 12, 2013) that it successfully performed GPS Military Code (M-Code) testing during a “live sky broadcast event” last month.
The IEC M-Code receiver is designed to provide improved accuracy, positioning, navigation and timing in conditions where the performance of current receivers might be compromised or unavailable.
By Inside GNSS
Measurements of individual Galileo horizontal position fixes performed for the first time using the four Galileo satellites in orbit plus the worldwide ground system between 1000 and 11:00 CET on Tuesday 12 March 2013, showing an overall horizontal accuracy over ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, of 6.3 meters. ESA figureThe European Space Agency (ESA) has announced a key milestone today (March 12, 2013) in the development of Europe’s GNSS program: the first determination of a ground location using the four Galileo satellites currently in orbit together with the system’s ground infrastructure.
This fundamental step confirms the Galileo system works as planned, according to ESA scientists.
By Inside GNSS
In a March 11 announcement, Institute of Navigation director Lisa Beaty said it was with "sincere regret" that this year’s Joint Navigation Conference will not take place in June as planned. She said all All JNC 2013 registered attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors will receive a full refund of any fees they have already paid.
By Inside GNSS
Working 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.
Veth proudly poses with his RV-8A fuselage components securely fastened in a jig. The RV-8A is a two-place, tandem, experimental aircraft that is home-built from kit components. When completed, he plans to use the aircraft as an experimental navigation testbed.SIDEBAR: Mike Veth’s Compass Points
Over the course of Lt. Col. Michael Veth’s 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force (USAF), certain navigation technologies may have changed dramatically, but working toward increased accuracy has remained a constant.
By Inside GNSS
Anyone who has gone to college is probably familiar with the idea of a capstone course. A final hurdle to clear in receiving a degree, students take such a course to demonstrate their practical knowledge by pulling together all of the main concepts taught throughout the program of study.
By Inside GNSS
FIGURE 1: Potential components of a multisensor integrated navigation systemThe navigation world is booming with new ideas at the moment to meet some of the greatest positioning challenges of our times. To realize demanding applications — such as reliable pedestrian navigation, lane identification, and robustness against interference, jamming and spoofing — we need to bring these different ideas together.
By Inside GNSS
Allure Shadow (top), structural clearances (bottom)The Boeing Company initiated the Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) program in the fall of 2003 to create a developmental platform for an optionally manned, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Initial flight test activity employed a modified MD530FF helicopter, with the first flight taking place on September 8, 2004. Six weeks later the program achieved a fully autonomous multiple waypoint demonstration flight from takeoff through landing.
By Inside GNSS
Deep military spending cuts set to kick in March 1 will likely slow efforts to modernize the GPS constellation, insiders agree, in large part because many of the personnel needed to push the program forward will be sitting at home, unpaid, one day out of every five.
The human impact of the deep cuts taking effect when sequestration kicks in on Friday was already evident in mid-February during the program review conference held by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
By Inside GNSS
The Air Force will put the navigation message onto the civil L2C signal as part of a test it plans to conduct this summer, sources have told Inside GNSS.
The test will take place over a two-week period in June and will involve all of the satellites capable of broadcasting the signal.
By Inside GNSS
A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on receiver performance and increased availability to radio frequency spectrum reveals just how complicated the issue underlying the GPS/LightSquared controversy is.
On February 22, the GAO sent the report — entitled “Spectrum Management – Further Consideration of Options to Improve Receiver Performance Needed” — to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
By Inside GNSS
GSA Headquarters in Prague (Image: MDCR)The European GNSS Agency (GSA) will sponsor a half-day workshop on GNSS for the regional business community at GSA headquarters, Janovkeho 438, in Prague at 8:30 a.m. on March 27.
The workshop is part of an effort to engage small and medium-sized enterprises from the Czech Republic in opportunities offered by the EU’s space programs.
In addition to SME’s, the audiece will include larger industries, representatives of foreign companies established in the Czech Republic and the press.
The agenda includes:
By Inside GNSS
Didier Faivre, director of ESA’s Galileo Program and Navigation-related Activities. ESA photoSpeaking privately at the recent European Union (EU) Space Conference in Brussels, one individual said, “Relations between the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are worse than ever."
That would be very bad indeed, given the two bodies’ history of knocking heads.
And what’s at the center of this new rift? “It’s about power,” said this source, who would know.
By Inside GNSS
