Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Europe has been talking up its European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS, for short) — and why shouldn’t it? Talking about Galileo doesn’t get satellites off the ground. EGNOS, on the other hand, is up and running, and has been since 2009. If the object is to build confidence in European savoir faire, why not talk about a real success like EGNOS?
By Peter Gutierrez
Perhaps taking a page of Russia’s playbook for mandating use of GLONASS in certain equipment, European officials are looking into the possibility of requiring the addition of Galileo capability to mobile phones and other device and platforms.
As it has become clear that the European GNSS will be the third or fourth GNSS available — after GPS, GLONASS, and probably BeiDou — the European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, is exploring non-market strategies to increase adoption of Galileo by manufacturers and users.
By Inside GNSS
Brad ParkinsonAmong the key topics to come out of this year’s European Navigation Conference (ENC 2014) in Rotterdam is how safe — or unsafe — we really are, and who in Europe cares. The answer is, a lot of people care, but almost no one can do anything about it.
Professor David Last, strategic advisor at the General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK & Ireland, made the case before the conference had even started, at the pre-conference “Resilient PNT Forum.”
By Inside GNSS
Sen. Al FrankenLess than 90 days after government watchdogs reported drivers are not being clearly informed about privacy risks posed by vehicle-location data, the head of the U.S. Senate’s privacy committee announced legislation to give consumers more control over how information about their whereabouts is collected and used.
By Inside GNSS
Matthias Petschke, European Commission Director of EU Satellite Navigation ProgramsAfter an organizational hiccup led to its cancellation last year, the “reloaded” Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2014 successfully re-established the event as Europe’s leading forum for GNSS policy dialog.
By Inside GNSS
Igor Stojkovic is the principal search and rescue engineer on the Galileo program in ESA, responsible for design and development of the SAR/Galileo component of the MEOSAR System.
By Inside GNSS
ESA Galileo IOV Test campaign authors, from left: Jörg Hahn, Stefano Binda, Edward Breeuwer, Roberto Prieto-Cerdeira, Marco Falcone, Alexander Mudrak, Gustavo Lopez- Risueño, Francisco Javier Gonzalez Martinez, and Daniel Blonski.The objective of the IOV phase was to launch the first four operational Galileo satellites and to deploy the first version of a completely new ground segment. During this phase, the European Space Agency (ESA) needed to validate — in the operational environment — all space, ground, and user components and their interfaces, prior to full system deployment. With the assistance of industry partners, ESA had to analyze the performance of the Galileo system and its components with the objective to refine the full operational capability (FOC) system.
By Inside GNSS
U.S. aviation officials on Monday (December 30, 2013) named the winners of a high-stakes contest to operate one of six new research and test sites for unmanned aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will now work to help the sites set up safe operations and create the structures needed within the agency to help it use the sites’ research results.
By Inside GNSS
Approval by the European Parliament of the new 2014-2020 European Union (EU) budget last November was widely seen as a step in the right direction for the 28-nation union, after more than a year of sometimes bitter monetary wrangling.
The Parliament quickly followed the move by voting to approve the financing and governance of Europe’s satellite navigation program over the same period. The measure passed the Parliamentary ballot by an impressive margin, with 603 votes in favor, 29 against, and 59 abstentions.
By Inside GNSS
The 8th annual conference on the Croatian Adriatic aims at GNSS experts and and focuses on GNSS resilience and GNSS applications development. It will take place at Baška on the resort island of Krk in Croatia from May 7 to May 9, 2014.
The deadline for abstracts is March 1, 2014.
Topics include:
The Royal Institute of Navigation, London, UK, Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Rijeka, Croatia and Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia, and is technically co-sponsored by Beihang University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China.
For more information, contact Ms. Sally-Anne Cooke, the RIN conference and events manager at co********@*****rg.uk
By Inside GNSS
Federal efforts to protect positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) signals came under sharp criticism during the December meeting of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) getting a bureaucratic ear boxing for having done little so far to specifically protect GPS.
By Inside GNSS
Ismael ColominaSIDEBAR: Ismael Colomina’s Compass Points
Ismael Colomina began his career in 1982. “So, in a way,” he says, “I grew up as a professional at the same time GPS was growing up and maturing. GNSS has always been present in my working life; so, I never experienced the ‘GNSS, aha!’ moment. Rather, I never stopped thinking ‘GNSS, of course!’"
By Inside GNSS
NASA satellite photo shows northward drift of smoke from wildfires near Yosemite National Park.Better known for supporting U.S. troops in firefights in Afghanistan firefights, a Predator drone has been deployed to help California National Guard firefighters battle wildfires raging around Yosemite National Park.
U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel approved the use of a GPS-guided MQ-1 Predator to support firefighters battling the Rim Fire that has expanded to more than 160,000 acres, accordeing to Air Force Lt. Col. Thomas Keegan, California National Guard public affairs officer.
By Inside GNSS
