Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
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
Last week marked a significant step toward providing a boost to the accuracy and reception of the existing GPS in Japan and to delivering a better positioning reading for the people in that country.
By Inside GNSS
MEMSIC Inc., with headquarters in Andover, Massachusetts, recently announced the addition of the VG380 to its portfolio of inertial modules. These new vertical gyros are designed to provide highly accurate pitch and roll (with respect to gravity), in both static and dynamic conditions. The static and dynamic accuracy is specified at +/-0.2 and +/-1.0 degrees (respectively) over the -40C to +85C temperature range.
By Inside GNSS
The Virginia firm that had been hoping to use satellite frequencies near the GPS band to support a terrestrial broadband network has changed its pitch to regulators. Ligado, previously named LightSquared, is working to convince the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that its frequencies are the way to provide connectivity to the broad internet of things (IoT) including unmanned aircraft, driverless cars and other unmanned systems.
By Dee Ann Divis
Spirent Communications has announced a solution that enables the civil aviation industry to evaluate the growing threat of GNSS interference, jamming and spoofing. The new GSS200D Interference Detector was developed as part of Spirent’s partnership with Nottingham Scientific Limited.
By Inside GNSS
With designs on providing a boost to navigation safety and efficiency for commercial and general aviation, Raytheon Company on May 18 launched its GEO 6 satellite payload into orbit for its 12-year mission. It is the latest payload to support the Federal Aviation Administration’s Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) which enhances the reliability and accuracy of GPS signals for directing air travel.
By Inside GNSS
Though civilian GNSS activities fared reasonably well in the just-signed 2017 federal budget, the White House has already forecast cuts across non-defense agencies next year leaving the funding outlook for civil GNSS programs uncertain at best.
President Trump signed the fiscal year 2017 (FY17) spending bill on May 5, preventing another government shutdown and ensuring funding for agencies including the Department of Transportation (DoT), which is responsible for supporting civil GPS needs.
By Dee Ann Divis
In an opinion released earlier this spring, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled against law enforcement use of data (including GPS-based data) from a car’s "event recorder" or "black box" without a warrant. The decision was just one of many in recent months that deals with the subject, as technology advances and privacy issues are clashing on a regular basis.
By Inside GNSS
Officials at the Tsukuba Space Center of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that the second satellite in the Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) is scheduled for launch in June.
Designed to boost the accuracy and reception of the existing GPS system for Japan, a new version of a satellite that will orbit directly over the Japanese archipelago was unveiled last week. It will improve the existing GPS and provide a better positioning reading for the people in Japan.
By Inside GNSS
Discussions continue on the pros and cons surrounding the possible privatization of the nation’s Air Traffic Control (ATC), with opponents sharing concerns and a proposal by President Trump aimed at looking into taking the air operations duties away from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
By Inside GNSS
The annual Joint Navigation Conference (JNC) is a military positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) event hosted by the Institute of Navigation (ION) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The ION 2017 JNC advance conference program is now available online.
By Inside GNSS
