Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Raytheon Missiles & Defense announced that its StormBreaker smart weapon has been approved for use on the F-15E by the U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command. StormBreaker’s multimode seeker guides the weapon by imaging infrared, millimeter wave radar, and semi-active laser in addition to or with GPS and inertial navigation system guidance.
By Inside GNSS
u-blox announced that it supplied the high-accuracy technology that made it possible to fly the world’s largest swarm of drones. The record-breaking simultaneous flight of 2198 miniature UAVs was launched into the night sky over Saint Petersburg, Russia, on September 3.
By Inside GNSS
The technology multinational GMV is playing a key role in the Galileo Second Generation (shortened to G2G) ground segment; Galileo is Europe’s global, civil, satellite-based navigation and positioning system.
By Inside GNSS
Spirent Federal Systems announced that it has been selected by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for testing GNSS for lunar exploration.
By Inside GNSS
Korea will inaugurate its own satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS), the Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS), sometime in 2022, with signals broadcast over the East Asian region from adjunct payloads aboard two geostationary communications satellites.
By Inside GNSS
For its flagship Gray Eagle UAV, the U.S. Army with lead contractor General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has selected an anti-jam GPS system from Cobham Aerospace Connectivity. The MQ-1C ER Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) platform is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Space and Missile Systems Center awarded the Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) Increment (Inc) 2 Miniature Serial Interface (MSI) with Next-Generation Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) to Rockwell Collins, Inc.; L3 Technologies; and Raytheon Technologies.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Space Force, Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and its mission partners successfully launched the Lockheed Martin-built fourth GPS III satellite at 6:24 p.m. Nov. 5 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The satellite was carried to orbit aboard a Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
By Inside GNSS
Parsons Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Braxton Science & Technology Group (BSTG). Braxton Technologies‘ Launch, Anomaly Resolution, and Disposal Operations (LADO) system has been a key part of GPS satellite launches since 2007. LADO has performed all the mission planning, commanding and telemetry processing necessary to prepare all GPS satellites for operational use.
By Inside GNSS
Swift Navigation announced that its production-grade State Space Representation (SSR) GNSS corrections service is available in extensive coverage areas: across the continental United States and Europe and in Japan, South Korea and Australia, with plans underway to expand globally.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Space Force’s newest GPS satellite, Space Vehicle 04 (GPS III SV04), has been re-scheduled for launch this Thursday, November 5. A previous launch date of October 2 was scrubbed at T-2 because of a detected anomaly in two of the booster rocket’s nine engines.
By Inside GNSS
In September, the Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) started broadcasting a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) signal over Africa and the Indian Ocean. This marks the first SBAS open service in the region, modeled based on the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).
By Inside GNSS
Six months ago, the FCC unanimously granted Ligado’s amended license modification applications to deploy a low-power terrestrial nationwide network in the L-Band. Petitions for reconsideration remain pending, interest groups continue to agitate for change, Congress awaits answers to conflict-of-interest questions—and Ligado presses forward as planned.
By Dawn M.K. Zoldi (Colonel, USAF, Ret.)
