Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The GPS program sustained a cut of more than six percent from the levels in the president’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14), increasing the likelihood that the Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX) will be delayed and putting pressure on budgets in future years to make up for cuts to modernization efforts.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) is asking the Air Force to cancel its plan to add navigation data to two key civil GPS signals this year, saying they are concerned that the approach and “nonstandard engineering tools” military officials plan to use could put GPS users at risk.
By Inside GNSS
SIDEBAR: Marc Weiss’ Compass Points
In a career spanning nearly the entire history of GNSS-enhanced metrology, Marc Weiss has been a key participant in projects that laid the foundation for accurate synchronization of atomic clocks around the world.
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.
By Inside GNSS
The GPS program is setting a new space-system standard for cyberdefense, and now the federal government is creating a framework to help operators of critical infrastructure that largely rely on GPS to do the same.
The need to raise the bar is clear. Malicious coders, often backed by hostile nation-states or criminal organizations, are using automated tools to continuously probe for weaknesses:
By Dee Ann Divis
The GPS program appears well positioned to weather another round of budget cuts, although some contractors that support the program may not be so fortunate.
“I would expect GPS will be relatively protected (with) continued investment and modernization of the satellite constellation.” said Robert Levinson, a senior defense analyst for Bloomberg Government during an October 28 briefing.
“GPS is in fairly good shape,” confirmed an expert familiar with the Air Force’s budget.
By Inside GNSS
Spirent Communications has unveiled a new system for recording real-world GNSS RF signals and replaying them in the lab.
“Record and Replay” is popular as a more rigorous — and, crucially, repeatable — approach to GPS and GNSS testing than using live signals in real time, where satellite positions and atmospheric conditions are constantly changing.
By Inside GNSS
Air Force officials should get more cost and user information and determine how many GPS satellites they will support before making decisions about revamping the navigation system, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has told Congress.
Although an Air Force report about program options was “a good starting point, more information on key cost drivers and cost estimates, and broader input from stakeholders would help guide future investment decisions,” the GAO wrote in an assessment of the defense agency’s analysis.
By Inside GNSS
BeiDou-2 Is Born
The year before the main release, China surprised the global community when it published just a test version of the promised ICD for the BeiDou-2 B1 open signal. In this document, the modulation scheme for the signal was confirmed and the pseudorandom code generator for the ranging signal was described.
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Company have successfully completed the third of five planned exercises to demonstrate the launch readiness of the U.S. Air Force’s next generation GPS III satellite and operational control system (OCX).
By Inside GNSS
Last month, USAF Col. Bernard Gruber stepped down after three years of running the Global Positioning Systems Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base.
The GPS Directorate, originally established in 1974 as the NAVSTAR GPS Joint Program Office, is responsible for development, acquisition, fielding and sustainment of all GPS space segments: the modernized operational control segment (OCX), the next-generation GPS III satellites, and modernized GPS user equipment (MGUE).
By Inside GNSS
Dudley Barnfield has joined the Boeing Government Space Systems (GSS) leadership team as director of the GPS programs. He will have oversight for the entire GPS portfolio, which includes the GPS IIF program and alternate architecture initiatives.
By Inside GNSS
Lockheed Martin has delivered a full-sized, functional prototype of the next generation GPS satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST) arrived at the Cape on July 19 where it will be used to test facilities and pre-launch processes in advance of the arrival of the first GPS III flight satellites, which will undergo similar testing. The first flight GPS III satellite is expected to arrive at Cape Canaveral in 2014, ready for launch by the U.S. Air Force in 2015.
By Inside GNSS
