Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to ask its top advisors on signal interference to help map out the allowable power limits for applications using frequencies close to those used by the satellite navigation community.
By Dee Ann Divis
Dr. Todd Walter, Stanford UniversityContrary to a widely held public impression, the elimination of GPS Selective Availability in 2000 did not take care of the needs that many users have for enhanced GNSS capabilities.
Indeed, various “augmentations” have been developed to meet the requirements of some applications for better accuracy, availability, or integrity (the assurance of the quality of a signal) than are available from GNSS signals in space.
By Inside GNSS
A Soyuz rocket lifts off from Europe’s spaceport in French Guinana on its mission to place the second pair of Galileo in-orbit validation satellites into orbit. ESA photo by S. Corvaja.[Updated October 26, 2012] A Soyuz ST-B launcher carrying two Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites took off as scheduled at 18:15 GMT (20:15 CEST; 2:15 p.m. EDT) on October 12 from the European Spaceport in French Guiana.
All the stages of the Soyuz vehicle performed as planned and the Fregat-MT upper stage released the Galileo satellites into their targeted orbit close to 23,200 kilometer altitude, three hours 45 minutes after liftoff.
By Inside GNSS
The GPS Directorate has approved three contracts to continue the military GPS user equipment (MGUE) development program for portable, ground-based receivers.
By Inside GNSS
At the Intergeo conference in Hannover, Germany, today, NovAtel Inc. announced the addition of a new commercially exportable single-enclosure SPAN MEMS receiver to its line of SPAN GNSS/INS products.
By Inside GNSS
Galileo IOV satellites attached to their launch dispenser and encapsulated beneath the fairing of their Soyuz ST-B launcher. ESA graphic by P. Carril[Updated October 11, 2012] The next two Galileo satellites have been cleared for launch on Friday (October 12, 2012), a couple days later than originally planned.
Follow the Galileo IOV launch live online here.
By Inside GNSS
A third GPS Block IIF satellite launched successfully on Thursday (October 4, 2012) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida — the first GPS launch of the year. The spacecraft was carried aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Launch Vehicle
By Inside GNSS
In one of three separate filings on Friday (September 28, 2012) would-be broadband provider LightSquared asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to set “operating parameters” leading to “revised technical rules” to enable it to operate in the lower of the two frequency bands where tests last year showed its operations would interfere with GPS.
Those rules and parameters should, the filing intimated, include standards for GPS receivers.
By Dee Ann Divis
With the debacle surrounding LightSquared’s now-stymied proposal still reverberating through Washington, federal agencies are studying ways to repurpose the spectrum adjacent to the satellite navigation frequencies without causing debilitating interference to GPS receivers.
By Dee Ann Divis
Ariane launch poster for ASTRA 2F and GSAT-10Arianespace successfully launched India’s GSAT-10 satellite this evening (September 28, 2012) on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The GSAT-10 carries India’s second GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation) payload, following a successful launch of the nation’s first space-based augmentation for GPS last year.
By Inside GNSS
QZSS satellite (JAXA image)The Japanese Cabinet Office issued an official announcement on Friday (September 21, 2012) approving plans to procure and finance construction of the ground control system and the operation of the next phase of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS). Procurement is going to be carried out using PFI (private finance initiative) scheme.
By Inside GNSS
Future of air traffic control (FAA image)A public-private partnership created to reduce the financial burden involved in implementing the nation’s GPS-based, next-generation (NextGen) air transportation system has raised its first rounds of financing and is now negotiating contracts with its charter customers.
“We have . . . closed our first tranche of equity,” said Jim Hughey, senior vice-president of the NextGen Equipage Fund. The fund has secured a total of $100 million in commitments with some $40 million of that coming from leading aerospace companies.
By Dee Ann Divis
ION GNSS 2012 ienjoyed clear skies and warm temperatures at the Nashville Convention Center in Tennessee. The U.S. Institute of Navigation-sponsored venerable conference closed on Friday, September 21.
Thursday’s workshops featured expanded discussion on China’s Compass/Beidou-2 and Europe’s Galileo. Two more Beidou MEO satellites were launched during the conference for a total of 15. Meanwhile, Europe plans an October 10 launch that will bring the total to four. Speakers "guaranteed a 30 satellite constellation by 2020."
By Inside GNSS
