Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Gen. John Hyten. USAF photoAs the new commander of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) Gen. John E. Hyten is responsible for all the service’s space programs including the Global Positioning System.
By Inside GNSS
The Antiquarium in the Residenz MünchenThe Munich Satellite Navigation Summit will take place at the Residenz Muenchen in Munich, Germany on March 24 – 26, 2015.
The theme for this year’s summit is “Future of PNT – A Glance into the Crystal Ball”.
The technical program includes plenary discussions and updates on the main activities in worldwide satellite navigation systems, including:
By Inside GNSS
The Air Force says it might ask Congress for permission to implement bigger buys of GPS satellites beginning in fiscal year 2016 (FY16) once it sorts out whether to drop Lockheed Martin as the GPS III prime contractor and switch to a different manufacturer for the navigation payload.
The department told Congress in a recent report on multiyear procurement (MYP) that while its current approach “allows the government the flexibility to adapt to a changing budget profile and constellation needs, it prevents the program from realizing savings that MYP could provide.”
By Inside GNSS
Members of Congress mapped out some rare common ground with both House and the Senate appropriators agreeing to not only fully fund nearly all elements of the GPS program next fiscal year but to add tens of millions to restore cutbacks in the procurement schedule for GPS III.
By Inside GNSS
The advantages of a digital navigation payload, a technology singled out by both the House and Senate for $20 million worth of research support, appears to be a key factor in the Air Force’s search for a new GPS III contractor.
The digital payload “is a direct complement to the Production Readiness Alternate Sources Sought released in June,” Air Force officials said in an emailed response to questions about the technology and how it fits into the ongoing search for new GPS III suppliers.
By Inside GNSS
Installation of Galileo FOC satellite “Doresa” on the payload dispenser system. The first of two Galileo navigation satellites has been integrated on its payload dispenser system at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The second satellite “Milena” was then installed in a side-by-side arrangement and will be mated atop a Soyuz Fregat upper stage. ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Vidéo du CSG photo by P. BaudonThe European Commission (EC) has opened a public consultation on a newly revised version of the Galileo Open Service Signal in Space Interface Control Document (OS SIS ICD).
The consultation will take place through September 22, overlapping the scheduled first launch of fully operational capability (FOC) Galileo satellites on August 21. Details of the consultation process can be found on the EC Directorate-General for Enterprise website.
The Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Directorate will host an open public forum on August 22 for the following NAVSTAR GPS public documents: IS-GPS-200 (Navigation User Interfaces), IS-GPS-705 (User Segment L5 Interfaces), IS-GPS-800 (User Segment L1C Interface), and ICD-GPS-870 (Navstar Next Generation GPS Operational Control Segment [OCX] to User Support Community Interfaces).
By Inside GNSS
One of 12 magnetograms recorded at Greenwich Observatory during the Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1859
1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)
Nouméa ground station after the flood
A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat
Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV
Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)
“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto
The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder. 
Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram
Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST
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Washington, D.C., has a peculiarity of seasons. While most of the world marks the shifts between winter and spring, summer and autumn, the politicos on the streets of the U.S. capital count the passage of time in two-year increments.
New operatives and appointees flock to the centers of power in the early days of each administration and the opening of each Congress, then migrate to friendlier climes as congressional elections loom and the administration winds down — as it is now.
By Dee Ann Divis
As the Air Force contemplates changing its GPS III prime contractor in the face of program delays, sources say it is also weighing much broader program changes to help it weather years of continued lean budgets.
By Inside GNSS
In response to the ongoing federal budget squeeze, the U.S. Air Force is restructuring the contract for developing its new GPS ground system, a move that could further delay its completion.
The Air Force has asked Raytheon, its contractor for the Next-Generation Operational Control System (OCX), to develop an alternative plan in light of fiscal limitations.
“The current baseline approach is unaffordable” given the funding constraints and “appears to be a much higher risk,” said Steve Moran, the director of GPS Mission Solutions at Raytheon.
By Inside GNSS
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Robert A. Rosenberg, former GPS IRT chairThe GPS Independent Review Team (IRT), a key player in GPS policy for nearly 20 years, has been disbanded by the Air Force in what several sources say is an effort to save money.
Created in 1997 for a temporary three-month assignment, the IRT has been instrumental in shaping the current GPS constellation including designing military’s M-code — giving the signal its distinctive two humps — and pushing to get that signal into the constellation earlier than initially planned.
By Inside GNSS
China’s BeiDou will accelerate the pace of its development, even as the world’s other three GNSS systems are experiencing delays and difficulties, according to speakers in the opening session of the China Satellite Navigation Conference (CSNC 2014) today (May 21) in Nanjing.
By Inside GNSS
