A: System Categories

The Weilheim Dish — Keeping an Eye on Galileo
March 19, 2010

The Weilheim Dish — Keeping an Eye on Galileo

From left, Johann Furthner, Walter Päffgen (managing director of Galileo Control Center), and Steffen Thölert

Up close and personal, the curved aluminum antenna dish at Weilheim — painted white and aimed vaguely skyward, with a big Krupp corporate logo on the front — looked a lot bigger than 30 meters across. And when we climbed up the steel stairs to the platform half-way up the dish, the ground looked a lot further away than 20 meters.

And that was before Peter, overseeing the DLR facility this late winter afternoon, flipped the switch and set the antenna in motion  — 240 degrees each direction horizontally, 90 degrees in the vertical.

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By Inside GNSS
Russia to Put 8 CDMA Signals on 4 GLONASS Frequencies
March 18, 2010

Russia to Put 8 CDMA Signals on 4 GLONASS Frequencies

Prof. Grigoriy Stupak. JPL/IGS photo

[Corrected March 20] Russia is “close to completion” of a coordination plan for the “whole set of GLONASS signals” that will include eight different CDMA signals on four frequencies, according to Prof. Grigoriy Stupak, deputy director general of the Russian Institute of Space Device Engineering (RISDE) and the general designer for the GLONASS system.

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By Inside GNSS
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Bright Ideas Welcome at 2010 European Satellite Navigation Competition
March 12, 2010

Bright Ideas Welcome at 2010 European Satellite Navigation Competition

European Satellite Navigation Competition Awards 2009

The European Satellite Navigation Competition (Galileo Masters), now in its seventh year, is seeking the best ideas for satellite navigation applications from companies, entrepreneurs, research institutes, universities, and individuals. Prizes total more than €500,000.

The 2010 contest begins on May 1, when competitors may register and submit their ideas online at the secure ESNC website. It closes on July 31.

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By Inside GNSS
Don’t Forget to Pat the Lion
March 11, 2010

Don’t Forget to Pat the Lion

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, User:Mattos

You walk past the dual-lion statue (pictured at right) as you enter a passage way from Odeonplatz to der Residenz, site of the just-concluded 8th Munich Satellite Navigation Summit.

There are actually four of these placed along a street paralleling the massive museum complex, and long-time Munich residents reach up to pat or rub the nose of the small leonine visage at the bottom of the shield — a gesture designed to bring good luck.

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By Inside GNSS
Delays Continue to Plague Europe’s Galileo GNSS Program

Delays Continue to Plague Europe’s Galileo GNSS Program

Paul Verhoef, GNSS Programs Manager, European Commission

At this week’s (March 9–11) Munich Satellite Navigation Summit, Galileo program officials — public and private — acknowledged that it faces delays at both ends of its latest schedule.

At the near end, the lead contractor for the Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites that it is building with a consortium of companies said the first IOV will not launch in 2010 as per the most recent schedule. Instead, said Mike Healy, director of navigation for EADS Astrium, the satellite will not be ready for launch until probably February 2011.

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By Inside GNSS
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Sampler Plate from Munich Summit
March 9, 2010

Sampler Plate from Munich Summit

Tony Russo, U.S. National Office for Space-Based PNT

Ah, another Munich Summit plenary session filled with many already-knowns and former unknowns, the latter mostly conveyed in nuances and bon mots.

More about that in news reportage to come.

But in the event’s venue, a recently restored All-Saints Church under der Residenz, the speakers may have felt a little lingering moral pressure to tell the truth. So, a sampler plate of comments may be in order.

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By Inside GNSS
Peter Chapman-Andrews New Director of Royal Institute of Navigation
March 4, 2010

Peter Chapman-Andrews New Director of Royal Institute of Navigation

Capt. Peter Chapman-Andrews

Peter Chapman-Andrews replaced David Broughton as director of Britain’s Royal Institute of Navigation in January. He will be the fourth director since RIN was founded in 1947.

Chapman is a graduate of Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He served as Queen’s Harbor Master, Portsmouth, and as fleet navigation officer on the staff of CinC fleet. He also served as aircraft director officer, principal warfare officer, navigation officer and ship’s commander during his career in the Royal Navy. He retired  in 2004 with the rank of captain.

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By Inside GNSS
GPS Jamming and Interference Sparks UK Concerns, Technical Solutions
March 2, 2010

GPS Jamming and Interference Sparks UK Concerns, Technical Solutions

Prof. David Last at DSKTN symposium

The noise floor seems to be rising on the subject of GNSS vulnerability to  jamming and interference. Recently, the United Kingdom provided the locus for a trio of initiatives that reflect growing anxieties about the widespread global dependence of critical position, navigation, and timing (PNT) applications and infrastructures on the low-power signals from space.

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By Inside GNSS
Russia Launches 3 GLONASS-M Satellites
March 1, 2010

Russia Launches 3 GLONASS-M Satellites

GLONASS launch 2008

[Updated 03:35 GMT, March 2] Russian Space Forces successfully launched three GLONASS satellites from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan on March 2, at 00:19 Moscow time (22:19 GMT, March 1).

The launch had been postponed from last September after an anomaly was discovered in one of the on-orbit space vehicles (SVs) navigation payload.

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By Inside GNSS
Raytheon Wins $1.5-Billion GPS OCX Contract
February 26, 2010

Raytheon Wins $1.5-Billion GPS OCX Contract

Raytheon Corporation graphic

Officials from the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Global Positioning Systems Wing announced today (February 25) the award of the Next Generation GPS Control Segment (OCX) contract to Raytheon Company, Intelligence & Information Systems, Aurora, Colorado.

With a baseline duration of 73 months, the OCX development contract has option years for sustainment worth a potential total of $1,535,147,916. Raytheon teammates include Boeing, ITT, Braxton Technologies, Infinity Systems Engineering, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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By Inside GNSS
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