Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin have successfully completed the first significant integration milestone between Raytheon’s Next Generation GPS Operational Control System (OCX) and Lockheed Martin’s GPS III satellite development.
By Inside GNSS
Dr. Anthony Pratt, Orbstar International Ltd.In the beginning, there was just the Global Positioning System. But it provided an astounding start to the world of GNSS.
Since the United States declared full operational capability (FOC) for GPS in 1995, two major things have occurred:
By Inside GNSS
Sergey Revnivykh, GLONASS program, RoscosmosGLONASS completed its long trek back to full operational capability with 24 operational satellites in the constellation last December, but Russia intends to keep pushing ahead with its GNSS, said Roscosmos official Sergey Revnivykh at the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit in March.
GLONASS now has a 347 billion ruble (US$11.81 billion) budget approved through 2020, by which time the system is scheduled to have 24 satellites transmitting both the new CDMA and legacy FDMA signals.
By Inside GNSS
New GPS III Test Chamber (Lockheed Martin photo)The United States GPS program is without doubt the elder statesman of GNSS, but it has had some close calls recently.
At the 2012 Munich Satellite Navigation Summit in March, a high-level Department of Transportation offical and the head of the Air Force GPS Directorate hailed continuing progress on the Global Positioning System’s third-generation satellite development and next-generation control segment (OCX), while apparently escaping — relatively unscathed — the dual perils of Congressional budget cuts and LightSquared interference.
By Inside GNSS
Galileo by Irina of Romania[Updated March 27] We see lots of graphs, schemata, renderings and photographic images of the GNSS satellites and constellations. Perhaps it’s time to rest the eyes with imaginative images of space and satellites through the eyes of children.
Over a number of years, up to 30 of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites are expected to reach orbit and each of them will be named after a child from one of the 27 European Union countries.
By Inside GNSS
UrsaNav LF transmitter site for timing synchronization trialsVirginia-based engineering firm UrsaNav Inc. has begun transmitting a variety of low frequency (LF) test signals, including enhanced Loran (eLORAN), as part of a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).
The test program include a comprehensive palette of signals that are being evaluated for their ability to provide a robust, wide-area, wireless precise timing alternative that can operate cooperatively with GNSS technology or autonomously during GNSS unavailability.
By Inside GNSS
SBIRS GEO-2 satellite in Baseline Integrated System Test (BIST-1). Lockheed Martin photo.The Air Force is poised to forego putting nuclear detonation detection sensors on the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellites, a decision that could complicate efforts to maintain the GPS system by hampering plans to launch multiple, lighter GPS satellites on a single rocket.
By Inside GNSS
Whenever the annual Munich Satellite Navigation Summit came around, some GNSS program was usually in the ascendant, while others had reversed direction or found themselves treading water. This year, perhaps for the first time, all four major providers had reason to celebrate as the event’s organizers cut the cake at their 10th birthday party.
By Inside GNSS
Gil Klinger, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space and Intelligence. DoD photo.As part of an effort to control costs, the U.S. Air Force will be shifting the GPS III program to a fixed-price contract, a Pentagon official told members of a House subcommittee recently.
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.
The navigation message has always been considered an inherent and essential feature of a global satellite navigation system. Its primary objective is to provide receivers with information on the errors of satellite clocks and parameters to compute the positions of satellites, as well as other parameters that help generate more accurate measurements.
By Inside GNSS
The details of President Obama’s 2013 budget have been gradually filtering out and, in general, the GPS system and those programs closely linked to satellite navigation, have escaped deep cuts.
On the hardware side the White House has requested $58.2 for GPS IIF satellite procurement. According to Air Force budget documents, the plan is to then wrap up the total IIF procurement of 12 satellites with a request for $77.6 million in FY14 and $7.3 million in FY15.
By Inside GNSS
Following up on the “strategic guidance” on defense spending that the White House laid out last month, President Obama has proposed a Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) budget that continues funding for GPS modernization efforts.
By Inside GNSS
