Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Harris Corporation has announced that it will offer an all-digital navigation payload for GPS Block III space vehicles (SV) 11 and beyond.
By Inside GNSS
If approved, legislation halting the use of a Russian rocket engine could force delays in the launch of U.S. military satellites, including, potentially, GPS III spacecraft planned for launch beginning next year.
The bill, introduced this week by Sen. John McCain R-Arizona, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, would ban the use of Russian RD-180 rocket engines for the evolved expendable launch vehicle program (EELV).
By Inside GNSS
The federal government is looking to small firms to help solve some of its toughest GPS-related technology problems with many of the projects focusing on countering jamming while others endeavor to simplify signal acquisition and improve links within the constellation. A recent spate of requests for proposals for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts have been released by various agencies. These include the following:
By Inside GNSS
Working Papers explore the technical and scientific themes that underpin GNSS programs and applications. This regular column is coordinated by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günter Hein, head of Europe’s Galileo Operations and Evolution.
With the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), a European team designed a frequency- and time-transfer process and validated its performance in a complex navigation test bed. This two-way time-transfer technology took advantage of the following:
By Günter W. Hein
The GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system was developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), together with Airports Authority of India (AAI), to deploy and certify an operational satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS). The system’s service area covers the Indian Flight Information Region (FIR), with the capability of expanding to neighboring FIRs.
By Inside GNSS
It will be a busy few weeks for GNSS satellite launches in January and February.
Up next is the Wednesday (January 20, 2016) is a launch of the fifth spacecraft for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The Indian Space Research Organization plans to complete the IRNSS constellation with two additional launches in February and March.
By Inside GNSS
The GPS Directorate at the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) released a request for proposals today (January 8, 2016) seeking proposals for the GPS III Space Vehicles 11+ Phase 1 Production Readiness Feasibility Assessment contract.
By Inside GNSS
Late yesterday (December 22, 2015) the Pentagon announced the imminent release of a new solicitation in its two-year search for a contractor to build the next tranche of GPS III satellites.
Air Force Space Command announced on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website that it would publish a request for proposals (RFP) for a phase 1 production readiness feasibility assessment for the new GPS III spacecraft on or around January 8.
By Inside GNSS
The Air Force is weighing its options for a new GPS ground system after a detailed review last week revealed the system would be further delayed — perhaps to as late as 2023.
By Inside GNSS
The constant growth and evolution of the positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) market generate demands for more and more added-value applications and services relying on GNSS signals, with expectations for improved accuracy and availability. Some services may also rely on added-value content other than navigation messages, for example, higher data volume with less latency, such as the data carried by satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) services and the Galileo Commercial Service.
By Günter W. Hein
Speakers at the low-in-profile but high-in-content International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN) conference in Prague this year threw into stark relief some of the big GNSS programs and even bigger GNSS questions.
By Peter Gutierrez
Speakers at the recent International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN) conference in Prague threw into stark relief some of the big GNSS programs and even bigger GNSS questions.
Prof.-Dr. Günter Hein, former head of the European Space Agency (ESA) EGNOS and GNSS Evolution Program Department and Emeritus of Excellence at University FAF Munich, delivered a fact-filled and level-headed presentation on the status of Galileo, the European Union’s civil-owned and non-military GNSS, with slides and information provided by ESA.
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) send-off of the 12th GPS Block IIF satellite scheduled for next February 3 may turn out to be the last GPS launch for the Boeing/Lockheed Martin joint venture — at least for a while. ULA did not submit a bid to launch the next generation of GPS satellites (GPS III).
By Inside GNSS
