Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The U.S. Air Force Second Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) has turned the first GPS III satellite, SVN-74, healthy and active.
By Inside GNSS
International astronomers linked observations from eight telescopes, including the the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), to pinpoint the location of a repeating fast radio burst (FRB), a little-understood and seldom-observed astronomical phenomenon that may hold keys to the origin of the universe. GPS played an important role in coordinating the telescopes and their milliseconds of data.
By Inside GNSS
Forward-deployed U.S. military personnel will soon benefit from warfighter localization sensor units that provide tracking information in GPS-denied environments in a bootstrap mode. The Army Product Manager Sets, Kits Outfits and Tools awarded a $16.5 million contract to Robotic Research of Clarksburg, Maryland for WarLoc units to equip four deployed U.S. Army Brigade Combat Teams in various locations. The first batch of systems has already been shipped, and should enable soldiers on foot to keep track of each other in terrain where GPS systems are less effective.
WarLoc provides localization and positioning data for teams of warfighters or first responders in signal-denied environments such as underground facilities and inside buildings and mega-cities, according to the company. The small sensor mounts on footwear. Multiple systems work together to further enhance accuracy and maintain the localization of teams.
[Heel-mounted warfighter localization sensor units, also known as WarLoc. Photo: Robotic Research.]
The tracking system augments its GPS receiver with an inertial measurement unit. The device connects with a smartphone through Bluetooth. Robotic Research fields two form factors of the WaLoc, one mounted over the top of the boot and another that wraps around the heel. Users view data readouts through an Android-based Tactical Assault Kit. The algorithms are reportedly robust to communications failures and dropouts, and the distributed nature works well in challenging communication environments.
By Inside GNSS
Hours before an impending government shutdown, the President signed both the defense appropriations and authorization bills on Friday, December 20. The bills funded nearly all of the Air Force’s GPS program but made substantial cuts in Army GPS receiver development.
By Dee Ann Divis
Reducing the number of GPS receivers installed or carried while tapping multiple PNT sources.
Prototyping and beta testing are techniques closely associated with Silicon Valley, the innovation engine admired around the world and, in particular, inside the Pentagon. Simply introducing a new idea has been known to take years in these halls; witness the long introductory saga of GPS itself in the 1970s.
By Dee Ann Divis
The previously-troubled program to build a new GPS ground control system has stayed on track for the last two and a half years and is moving along as planned, said Lt. Gen. John ‘JT’ Thompson, commander of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC).
By Dee Ann Divis
The antenna may qualify as the most overlooked element in high-precision positioning in automotive applications, which increasingly these days denote potentially autonomous applications. Yet it all starts there.
By Inside GNSS
In a letter made public late Friday, the point person for all federal agency use of frequencies told commercial spectrum regulators his agency could not support approval of Ligado Networks’ request to use satellite frequencies for a terrestrial wireless network.
By Dee Ann Divis
“The future of navigation is inertial plus . . . some other sensor,” states Michael Braasch at the opening of this month’s webinar. “One sensor suite determines position, velocity and attitude.”
By Inside GNSS
Two new all-silicon inertial measurement systems, developed to meet the specific demands of the small satellite and launch vehicle markets, have been released by Silicon Sensing Systems Ltd, and are on display at this month’s Space Tech Expo in Bremen, Germany.
By Inside GNSS
The GPS III Contingency Operations Program (COps) successfully connected with the first GPS III satellite on orbit on October 21. The Air Force can now operationally command and control the powerful new GPS III satellites
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Army is reaching out to industry for the advanced inertial measurement unit (IMU) and timing technology it needs to support warfighters when GPS is unavailable or compromised.
By Dee Ann Divis
Satelles, Inc. (www.satellesinc.com), provider of highly secure satellite-based time and location services, announced that it has raised $26 million in Series C funding. C5 Capital (www.c5capital.com) led the round, with participation from Iridium Communications (www.iridium.com) and existing investors. This new investment brings Satelles’s total funding since the launch of its platform to $39 million and will help the company expand its sales and marketing efforts, broaden its partner network, and accelerate product development.
By Inside GNSS