Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
At the ESA/JRC International Summer School on GNSS in Austria last month, one of the participants asked us during the evening panel — where they can address any kind of question to the lecturers and experts — What does satellite navigation look like in 50 and in 100 years from now?
By Günter W. Hein
How can I walk my dog on the Moon? What happens if I sneeze in space? Just some of the questions that more than 500,000 children around the world will be asking and attempting to answer over the next months, as part of this year’s FIRST LEGO League competition, a global STEM program with an annual theme that inspires and challenges young engineers and scientists.
By Inside GNSS
The recently concluded Arab Institute of Navigation biennial conference in Cairo, “GNSS, the Key to Innovation,” featured a wide variety of presentations of interest to navigators and technologists alike.
Presenters ranged from representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, to those from a transportation company that uses GNSS-enabled tracking while transporting priceless ancient artifacts to the under-construction Grand Egyptian Museum.
By Inside GNSS
According to the European Commission “…GNSS cannot be the sole means of PNT information … for critical applications requiring continuous availability and fail-safe operations.”
Similar realizations in the United States, United, Kingdom, South Korea and elsewhere have led to a revitalization of efforts to examine Alternative Positioning, Navigation and Timing (APNT) systems that could complement and reinforce our exceptionally valuable, yet vulnerable, GNSS signals.
By Dana A. Goward
As space becomes a major topic that the mainstream media is now focusing upon, there are more eyes and dollars attuned to the “how to” monetize these market segments than ever before in the history of the satellite and space industry.
By Inside GNSS
The European Commission (EC) is on track to mandate that smart phones in the European Union (EU) be capable of using signals from the Galileo satellite navigation system as well as other systems including GPS.
The move is part of a broad space strategy launched in October 2016 to strengthen the EU’s space program and maximize its benefits.
By Dee Ann Divis
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a new effort to ascertain the real-world risks posed by the loss of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) service and how those risks might be reduced, said James Platt, director of DHS’s PNT Program Management Office. On the table is testing, best practices, partnerships, a new management approach and possibly standards and a backup system.
By Dee Ann Divis
The new Cybersecurity Solarium Commission should consider addressing GPS vulnerabilities as it develops a strategy to protect the U.S. against attacks on its computer systems and infrastructure, experts agreed.
Inspired by an analysis that guided officials during the Cold War, the U.S. is about to launch a yearlong assessment of its cybersecurity situation with the goal of devising a long-term strategy
By Dee Ann Divis
While threats to American defense satellites were climbing sharply, the costs and schedules of U.S. military space programs were on the same unsustainable trajectory — prompting lawmakers last year to begin trying to reorganize Air Force’s military space programs by creating a Space Corps. A move that, so far, has failed.
By Dee Ann Divis
The International Astronautical Congress (IAC) consists of a scientific conference program and a space exhibition. Scheduled for October 1-5 in Bremen, a city straddling the Weser River in northwest Germany, it provides an opportunity for about 4,000 space actors from all over the world to come together.
By Inside GNSS
The years-long fight over a proposal to recast satellite spectrum near the GPS frequencies for a terrestrial network is now being raised as an issue that could impact efforts to support competitiveness in satellite communications and other sectors of the growing commercial space industry.
By Dee Ann Divis
One of the more popular sessions in recent years at the annual ION GNSS+ technical meeting is the panel discussion on a variety of satellite-based navigation systems, and it appears as if Chinese officials will have plenty of updates on its BeiDou navigation and positioning system to share.
By Stan Goff
GNSS technology plays an important role in an ever expanding range of safety, security, business and policy critical applications.
By Mark Petovello
