A: System Categories

ESA Creates Galileo Directorate, Appoints Oosterlinck
April 16, 2008

ESA Creates Galileo Directorate, Appoints Oosterlinck

René Oosterlinck, ESA Galileo Director

In an April 15 meeting, the Council of the European Space Agency (ESA) has created a Galileo Directorate to accommodate the agency’s newly enhanced role in Europe’s GNSS program.

Acting on recommendations of ESA’s Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, the council agreed to bring back René Oosterlinck, former head of the Navigation Department, to serve as the director of the Galileo program and navigation-related activities (D/GAL) through the end of 2010.

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By Glen Gibbons
NovAtel Offers GL1DE Technology for Precision Ag Guidance

NovAtel Offers GL1DE Technology for Precision Ag Guidance

NovAtel Inc. has launched its new GL1DE technology, the latest enhancement to the Calgary, Alberta, Canada–based company’s high-precision OEMV GNSS product line.

GL1DE is a relative pseudorange/delta-phase filter enhancement available in the coompany’s OEMV 3.400 firmware. The new technology is targeted for agricultural guidance applications in which pass-to-pass repeatability and elimination of position “jumps” is critical.

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By Glen Gibbons
Hemisphere GPS Announces Eclipse Developer Kit
April 14, 2008

Hemisphere GPS Announces Eclipse Developer Kit

Hemisphere GPS has released an OEM development kit for its Eclipse dual-frequency GPS receiver technology.

Development kits allow product designers and system integrators to more easily access and test all of the available features on an Eclipse board, simplifying the effort needed to reach a proof of concept and shortening the time required to bring a product to market.

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By Glen Gibbons
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IfEN Receives ESA EGNOS-Related Contract
April 11, 2008

IfEN Receives ESA EGNOS-Related Contract

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a contract to IfEN GmbH to develop a “New Generation” receiver breadboard for use at the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) Ranging and Integrity Monitoring Stations (RIMS).

The RIMS New Generation breadboard will be capable of receiving the new L2C and L5 signals, the Galileo E1, E5ab, and E6 signals and the GLONASS L1 signal in addition to GPS L1 and L2P signals.

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By Glen Gibbons
GSA Releases Second Galileo SIS ICD
April 8, 2008

GSA Releases Second Galileo SIS ICD

The European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) has released a new version of the provisional Galileo Open Service Signal-In-Space Interface Control Document (SIS ICD).

The new SIS ICD will enable developers to create products and applications that employ the Galileo system and signals. The new document is open for public consultation.

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By Glen Gibbons
EADS Astrium Buys Surrey Satellite
April 7, 2008

EADS Astrium Buys Surrey Satellite

SSTL Engineering Team with GIOVE-A at ESA Test Facility

EADS Astrium has signed an agreement to acquire Guildford, United Kingdom–based Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) from the University of Surrey.

SSTL designed and built the first Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element (GIOVE-A), the only European GNSS satellite currently on orbit. The company also is building a second GIOVE-A spacecraft under contract to the European Space Agency (ESA).

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By Glen Gibbons
Europe’s Transport Ministers, Parliamentary Committee Okay New Galileo Deal
April 6, 2008

Europe’s Transport Ministers, Parliamentary Committee Okay New Galileo Deal

The European Transport Council and the European Parliament’s industry committee have approved new institutional arrangements for the €3.4-billion Galileo program that help pave the way for the European Space Agency to start a tender for contracts.

The regulation would also continue operation of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) while setting up a new Galileo Inter-Institutional Panel (GIP), with three members each from the parliament and the transport council and one from the European Commission (EC).

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By Glen Gibbons
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U.S. Officials Encourage Industry Participation in APEC GNSS Events
April 5, 2008

U.S. Officials Encourage Industry Participation in APEC GNSS Events

The U.S. State Department and the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) are soliciting participation from the GPS industry in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization’s GNSS Innovation Summit and the 12th GNSS Implementation Team (GIT) Meeting to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in May.

The Innovation Summit takes place May 26–27, followed by the GIT meeting May 28–30.

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By Glen Gibbons
DoT Rescues NDGPS Project
April 4, 2008

DoT Rescues NDGPS Project

The Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System (NDGPS) program has been salvaged from the political limbo in which it has resided for more than a year.

Following completion of an assessment by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT), the agency has decided to continue full NDGPS operations. Currently, 86 stations are operating with support from three federal agencies: the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG, 39 sites), the Army Corps of Engineers (9 site), and the DoT (38 sites operated and maintained by the USCG under contract).

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By Glen Gibbons
Jules Verne Automatic Transfer Vehicle Guided to ISS by Thales Alenia GPS System

Jules Verne Automatic Transfer Vehicle Guided to ISS by Thales Alenia GPS System

ATV Docking with International Space Station, NASA image

Europe’s Jules Verne Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) that docked Thursday (April 3) at the International Space Station (ISS) is operating with a guidance, navigation control (GNC) system based on a GPS receiver developed by Thales Alenia Space Italia (TASI).

The GNC unit provides accurate position and velocity information for the ATV orbit control and rendezvous operation with the ISS. The Jules Verne completed its first space cargo voyage — 25 days long — docking the 10,470-kilogram (23,034-pound) ATV with the station, orbiting the Earth at 28,000 kilometers per hour.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), this docking marks the beginning of Jules Verne’s main servicing mission to deliver cargo, propellant, water, oxygen and propulsion capacity to the station, as well as ESA’s entry into the restricted club of the partners able to access the orbital facility by their own means.

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By Glen Gibbons
First Civil Funds for GPS Program
April 2, 2008

First Civil Funds for GPS Program

FY09 GPS Budget Request; FAA Line Item

The GPS program has passed a milestone of sorts with the first allocation of funds from civil agencies to pay for a portion of the core GPS budget.

The Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08) budget for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) sets aside $7.2 million as the first installment on the civil share of GPS modernization efforts, including the L1C signal that will be transmitted on the GPS Block III satellites and costs of monitoring the civil GPS signals in the modernized ground control segment (OCX). For the FY09 budget, the Bush administration has requested a $20.7 million allocation. The total five-year civil contribution (FY09-13) is expected to be more than $200 million.

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By Glen Gibbons
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