Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The new European Space Agency (ESA) GNSS Science Support Centre (GSSC) is based at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre, ESAC, near Madrid. Run by ESA’s Galileo Science Office, the GSSC integrates IT and satnav infrastructure to deliver advanced data processing services to the scientific community.
By Inside GNSS
The International Technical Symposium on Navigation and Timing (ITSNT) is an annual event organized by CNES (Centre national d’études spatiales) and ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile) for professionals and researchers working with or interested in navigation and timing technologies and their use. This year’s event is taking place this week, Nov. 13-16, in Toulouse, France, on the campus of ENAC.
By Inside GNSS
Garmin International recently announced two additions to its popular outdoor GPS handheld series – the GPSMAP 66s and the GPSMAP 66st. The GPSMAP 66 handhelds can log raw measurements in RINEX form. These updated premium handhelds bring expanded wireless connectivity, direct-to-device access to BirdsEye Satellite imagery and a larger 3-inch sunlight-readable color display. The GPSMAP 66st offers preloaded topographic maps for the United States and Canada.
By Inside GNSS
The 5-LIVES Advisory Group (FLAG) has been created to join helicopter operators and national aviation authorities in an effort to harmonize the implementation of rotorcraft EGNSS (Galileo and EGNOS) operations at a European level.
By Inside GNSS
Garmin International, Inc., has launched Instinct, a strong and durable GPS watch with built-in 3-axis compass and barometric altimeter plus multiple global navigation satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS and Galileo) support and wrist-based heart rate. In addition to key GPS data, ABC and heart rate sensors, Instinct includes built-in sports apps, smart connectivity and wellness data.
By Inside GNSS
Ag Leader just unveiled new guidance and steering solutions including a dual-antenna automated steering system and the latest in GNSS technology to be added to its already high-end precision agriculture guidance and steering line.
By Inside GNSS
NavtechGPS is offering a training seminar later month titled Course 336: GNSS Operations for Engineers at the European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC) in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
This 3-day course offers a comprehensive introduction to GPS/GNSS and DGPS technology, system concepts, design, operation, implementation and applications. Detailed information on the GPS signal, its processing by the receiver, and the techniques by which GPS obtains position, velocity and time will be covered, together with a full day on differential GPS.
By Inside GNSS
Iridium is asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to rescind rules essential to Ligado Networks’ proposal to use its satellite frequencies to support a ground-based network for applications like 5G wireless service and connectivity for driverless cars and drones.
By Dee Ann Divis
Positioning and mapping technologies are converging and integrating as never before, enabling developers to deliver innovative high added-value applications and services, according to participants in the 5th edition of Technology for All, a forum dedicated to technological innovation in support of the environment, cultural heritage and smart cities, which was held at Rome’s Higher Institute for Firefighting (Istituto Superiore Antincendi) in early October.
By Inside GNSS
Harris Corporation has provided Lockheed Martin with its sixth of 10 advanced navigation payloads contracted for the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III satellite program, the company announced today.
The GPS III navigation payload features a Mission Data Unit (MDU) with a unique 70-percent digital design that links atomic clocks, radiation-hardened processors and powerful transmitters – enabling signals three times more accurate than those on current GPS satellites. The payload also boosts signal power, which increases jamming resistance by eight times and helps extend the satellite’s lifespan.
By Inside GNSS
The announcement of the White House’s new strategy to speed development of next-generation wireless networks is likely to create a new front in the years-long fight over a proposed project that could interfere with GPS spectrum.
By Dee Ann Divis
More than 40 drones performing in a professionally organized light show fell from the sky in Hong Kong Saturday after the GPS signal they were using was jammed. The incident, which caused some HK$1 million in damage (U.S. $127,500), is now under criminal investigation.
The firm Sky Magic, which uses a customized fleet of performance dronesto do indoor and outdoor light shows, confirmed the incident but declined to discuss details of what happened because the investigation was still underway. The company, which has offices in the UK and Singapore, said it would provide more information once the investigation was concluded.
The unmanned aircraft were part of a 100-drone show that was cancelled after an outside party interfered with their operation, Asian news outlets reported. The light show was being performed in conjunction with the annual Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival.The planned seven-minute show featured 100 rotorcraft with LED lights honoring the 10th anniversary of the festival by forming the outline of a birthday cake and the number 10.
The drones were lost during a show Saturday, October 27. Shows already had been done Thursday and Friday.
“After initial checks, the GPS signals for the drones were found to be interfered [with] by external parties and the board reported the issue to police immediately,” organizers said in a press release, according to the South China Morning Post.
“These are professional drones, which are already built with technologies that would direct them back to the takeoff origin,” Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Executive Director Anthony Lau told the Morning Post, “but the signals were so strong that many of them just dropped from the air.”
Lau said an initial police investigation ruled out the possibility that the machines had been hacked.
“They [the police] were here all night working with us, and our vendor, and looking into all sorts of possibilities, and have come to the conclusion that it is not computer hacking,” Lau said. “It is because someone jammed the GPS signal.”
By Inside GNSS
Spectrum Instrumentation recently added 12 new products to its family of LXI-based digitizerNETBOX data acquisition instruments. Designed specifically for situations where multiple signals need to be acquired, stored and analyzed, users can select from models that provide 24, 32, 40 or even 48 fully synchronized channels.
By Inside GNSS
