Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Spirent Communications has launched its GSS6700 Multi-GNSS Constellation Simulator with test test capability GPS, GLONASS, and the planned European Galileo system.
By Inside GNSS
Iridium Satellite LLC (Iridium) and Boeing have achieved two major milestones to further develop and demonstrate capability enhancements to the High Integrity Global Positioning System (iGPS) program for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
By Inside GNSS
The Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) has completed a revision (Version 2.0) of its standard for Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol (Ntrip).
Designated as RTCM Standard 10410.1, Among other things, the new standard defined by RTCM’s Special Committee 104 (SC104) provides a protocol for streaming differential correction data or other kinds of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data to stationary or mobile users over the Internet.
By Inside GNSS
FAA graphicGNSS manufacturer NovAtel Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has received a new contract from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop the next-generation GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) reference receiver (the “GIII” receiver). The three-year contract is worth up to US$9.7million.
By Inside GNSS
Loran tower – Starkey Loran research photos 2001To say that enhanced Loran (eLoran) has been an on-again off-again program would give short shrift to multiple generations of official ambivalence about the proposed backup for GPS.
The latest chapter began on June 4 when Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) introduced S. 1194, the Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (FY2010/11).
Among other details, the measure directs the Secretary of Transportation to continue the Loran system until a plan has been drawn up and implemented to transition the program to eLoran.
By Inside GNSS
The president’s proposed Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget would provide more than $1 billion for GPS and related U.S. space-based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) programs.
By Inside GNSS
The National Institute of Standards and Technology will hold its 34th Time and Frequency Metrology Seminar June 2-5 2009 at NIST Boulder Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado.
By Inside GNSS
A proposal now before the European Parliament and Council of the European Union would complete the transformation of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) from the leading executive agency for the Galileo program into a diminished subsidiary of the European Commission (EC).
By Inside GNSS
Sea State MonitoringSurrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) will lead a British project to exploit signals from GPS and other GNSS satellites that are reflected from the Earth for remote sensing purposes.
The project will investigate a prototype instrument capable of measuring the roughness of the sea and soil moisture content, providing data for atmospheric science and for operational ocean and weather forecasting.
By Inside GNSS
A 2008 version of the Federal Radionavigation Plan (FRP) has been published by the U.S. government, providing the latest documentation of the policy and plans for radionavigation systems used for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) applications.
By Inside GNSS
EZ-Guide 500 VRATrimble has introduced a series of new products targeting the agriculture market where the company has been doing particularly well in recent years. These include an integrated display for manual or automated machine operation, a variable rate application (VRA) option for the company’s lightbar guidance system, and two new differential GPS receivers.
Trimble has introduced a series of new products targeting the agriculture market where the company has been doing particularly well in recent years. These include an integrated display for manual or automated machine operation, a variable rate application (VRA) option for the company’s lightbar guidance system, and two new differential GPS receivers.
The AgGPS FmX integrated display can operate as either a stand-alone manual guidance system or as part of an automated guidance, implement control or steering system. The FmX touch screen display is 12.1 inches, approximately 35 percent larger than the industry standard 10.4-inch screen, yet the display requires no more space in the cab than its predecessor, the AgGPS FieldManager, according to the company.
By Glen Gibbons
The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Thales Alenia Space Italia (TAS-Italia) two contracts for development of Galileo ground station receiver equipment.
One contract is for Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element (GIOVE) phase A/B ground station receivers capable of tracking the multiplex binary offset carrier (MBOC) signal that is common to both the Galileo Open Service (OS) and the new GPS L1 civil signal, which will be transmitted beginning with the GPS III generation of satellites.
By Glen Gibbons
William J. Lynn III(Updated Jan.26) President Barack Obama’s nomination of William J. Lynn III, a senior vice-president at Raytheon Corporation, for deputy secretary of defense and his granting Lynn a waiver from the new administration’s own rules on former lobbyists has provoked considerable criticism from some quarters.
As the number two official in the Department of Defense (DoD), Lynn would report directly to Robert Gates, the current secretary of defense who has continued in that position in the new administration, the only holdover from ex-President Bush’s cabinet. Gates has come out strongly in support of Lynn, saying that he requested the waiver from the president.
Among other responsibilities, the deputy secretary serves as the co-chair of
the Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Executive
Committee (ExCom). Lynn would succeed Gordon England, who has paid a lot of attention to GPS during his term in office and enhanced the role of the PNT ExCom as an arbiter and advocate for the GPS program throughout the federal government.
