A: System Categories

ESSP Signs €450 Million EGNOS Contract to Augment GPS, GNSS Services

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has announced the award of an eight-year, €450 million (US$585.4 million) EGNOS Service Provision (ESP) contract to ESSP, the European Satellite Services Provider.

ESSP has provided EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) services since 2009 under the current contract with the European Commission, which continues until the end of this year. The new contract will cover the period 2014-2021 (inclusive).

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By Inside GNSS
June 19, 2013

Trimble Launches UAS Photogrammetry System

Trimble has introduced its next-generation unmanned aircraft system (UAS) — the UX5 aerial imaging rover with the Trimble Access aerial imaging application.
 
According to the Sunnyvale, California– based company, the new UAS enhances the image quality and workflows its predecessor, the Trimble Gatewing X100. Combined with the Trimble Business Center photogrammetry office software module, the Trimble UX5 is provides a UAS photogrammetric mapping solution specifically designed for surveyors and geospatial professionals.   
 

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By Inside GNSS
June 18, 2013

House Committee Makes Deeper Cuts to FY14 GPS Budget

The House Appropriations Committee has made a series of cuts to GPS programs that, if agreed to by the Senate, suggest an overall slowdown in the pace of GPS modernization.

While lawmakers on the House Authorization Committee agreed to the full amount of each of the president’s GPS-related requests, their counterparts on the Appropriations Committee cut a total of just over 9 percent from the total budget request for GPS spacecraft, ground systems, and user equipment.

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By Inside GNSS
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EU Calls Out European Industry on GNSS Opportunities

Gian Gherardo Calini. GSA photo

According to European Union (EU) figures, there should be €90 billion in benefits to be reaped by industry as a result of Europe’s €11 billion investment in Galileo. But what that really means is that there will be €90 billion in new income out there for someone to take.

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By Inside GNSS

SMC Signs CRADA to Certify SpaceX Falcon Launcher

The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, has signed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX, to certify the company’s Falcon launcher for future National Security Space (NSS) missions.

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By Dee Ann Divis
June 17, 2013

Inside GNSS Columnist Wins Journalism Award — Again

Dee Ann Divis, a contributing editor for Inside GNSS, has won the 2013 Dateline award for Washington Correspondent from the Society of Professional Journalists – DC Chapter for the second year in a row.

The award recognizes a series of stories published over the past year in Inside GNSS about a controversial British Ministry of Defense attempt to patent technology underlying new GNSS signals, including GPS and Galileo.

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By Inside GNSS
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June 16, 2013

CNAV Tests Begin on GPS L2C and L5 Signals

The U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC ) began testing modernized civil navigation (CNAV) message capabilities on the GPS L2C and L5 signals for the first time yesterday (June 15, 2013).

This first test period is scheduled to continue through July 1 (Julian Day 182), according to a Notice Advisory to NAVSTAR Users (NANU 2013034), although a tentative CNAV test plan shows the tests ending on June 29.

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By Inside GNSS
June 10, 2013

Four More GLONASS Launches Planned for 2013

The head of Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces (VKO) said four more GLONASS launches are planned for 2013. 

“Three GLONASS satellites are scheduled to be launched on board a Proton carrier rocket in July from the Baikonur space center and another one is planned to be launched in December from the Plesetsk space center,”  said Major General Alexander Golovko in a June 7 story for state news agency RIA Novosti.

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By Inside GNSS

European Patent Office Offers New Prize in 2013 GNSS Applications Contest

Member states of the European Patent Organization

The European Patent Office will award a brand-new prize for the best patented satellite technology in the 2013 European Satellite Navigation competition, or Galileo Masters.

The winner – or winners -will receive a detailed economic study on the market potential of theirinvention. They will also have chance at the EPO’s 2014 European Inventor Award.

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By Inside GNSS
June 4, 2013

Air Force Proposes Dramatic Redesign for GPS Constellation

[Updated June 3, 2013] With the budget vise tightening, top Pentagon managers are readying some potentially dramatic changes to the GPS constellation — changes that promise to lower both the cost of the satellites and the expense of putting them into orbit.  

The first changes would be subtle and are linked to buying the next block of GPS III satellites — a decision that sources confirm will be made by the end of September.  

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By Dee Ann Divis
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