Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The 2017 EGNOS Annual Workshop, the annual meeting for EGNOS stakeholders, users and application developers, is coming up this October in Athens, Greece. Organized by the European Satellite Services Provider (ESSP) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA), the event will include information about EGNOS services status, applications and success stories from partners currently using EGNOS in real applications.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Air Force will hold a full and open competition for the next GPS III contract and is focused on choosing a single contractor for all 22 satellites to limit engineering costs, a GPS program official told the United States’ leading satellite navigation experts.
By Dee Ann Divis
The nation’s leading GPS experts said in a newly released letter that a controversial broadband network would still interfere significantly with GPS receivers despite revisions to the network plan. The right choice, the group advised key administration officials, is to protect GPS, which underlies aviation and much of the nation’s other critical infrastructure.
By Dee Ann Divis
Iridium Communications’ recent successful second launch of its next-generation network, Iridium NEXT, has further implemented a space-based automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) developed by Aireon. This payload of 10 satellites deployed into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) approximately one hour after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sunday, June 25.
By Inside GNSS
The M-Code receiver operates using a more powerful signal, resistant to cyber threats. Photo source: Rockwell Collins.Rockwell Collins recently delivered the last of a 770 Military-Code (M-Code) GPS receiver order to the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (USAF SMC). Committed to the Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) program, the M-Code receiver operates using a more powerful signal, resistant to cyber threats.
By Dee Ann Divis
Applanix will provide WatCAR with its POS for testing autonomous guidance and control systems in real-world conditions. Photo source: Applanix.Applanix, a Trimble Company, announced this week that it is collaborating on advanced research for autonomous vehicle guidance and control systems with the University of Waterloo Centre in Ontario, Canada for Automotive Research (WatCAR). Applanix will provide WatCAR with its Positioning and Orientation System (POS) for testing autonomous guidance and control systems in real-world conditions. Applanix will also provide the Trimble GNSS-Inertial board set for integration with car systems and sensors to enable precise positioning.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Air Force is in a tug of war with congressional lawmakers over how military space programs will be managed going forward.
The House Armed Services Subcommittee (HASC) Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, this week threw his support behind a measure to move Space Command out from under the Air Force, placing it instead within U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), one of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) nine unified commands.
By Inside GNSS
Spider v7.0 now supports all known GNSS. Photo courtesy of Leica Geosystems.Leica Geosystems has released Leica Spider v7.0 software suite, which supports Galileo and QZSS constellations as well as the GPS-L5 signal for improved network RTK correction services.
By Inside GNSS
The event’s venue is Hotel The Ashok, Nitti Marg, New Delhi (http://www.theashok.com).The 38th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS-2017) will take place in October at New Delhi, India. The main theme of the conference is Space Applications: Touching Human Lives. The venue is Hotel The Ashok, Nitti Marg, New Delhi. Delhi is connected to all major cities, and the venue place is at the heart of the Delhi City.
By Inside GNSS
Maj. Gen. Roger Teague, the director of space programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition. Photo courtesy of Air Force.The White House is asking Congress to boost overall funding for the GPS program back over $1 billion, with the largest infusion of new money earmarked to cover the cost growth of the Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX).
If approved, overall spending on the GPS program would reach $1.09 billion in fiscal year 2018 (FY18) with funding for OCX surging to $510.94 million from the $393.27 million allocated by Congress for FY17.
By Dee Ann Divis
The White House has thrown its support behind a proposal to privatize the nation’s air traffic control (ATC) system as part of its plan to improve the country’s infrastructure.
The administration is seeking to create a nonprofit organization empowered to take over the ATC system from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and finance its operations by charging fees to flyers. The new group would also be expected to reach out to the financial markets and borrow against that income stream to support, and hopefully accelerate, ATC modernization.
By Inside GNSS
The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space for an upgrade of EGNOS, Europe’s satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS).
Designed by ESA and being exploited by Europe’s GNSS Agency (GSA) the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) improves the precision of U.S. GPS signals over most of the European territory, while also providing continuous and reliable updates on the “integrity” of these GPS signals.
By Inside GNSS
Sferic Maps empowers emergency management and business continuity professionals with real-time collaboration capabilities to make intelligent weather-related decisions. Photo source: Earth Networks.Advanced weather data is crucial to safeguarding business assets from severe weather. For example, energy companies build outage models utilizing their real-time hourly forecasting for every point in the country. These companies can then plan field teams accordingly, and plan drone operations to be conducted after the weather event to assess infrastructure damage that may have occurred.
By Inside GNSS
