Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Dudley Barnfield, director, Boeing GPS ProgramsDudley 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
In a Tuesday (July 23, 2013) hearing on two fatal school bus/truck collisions, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended adoption of “connected vehicle technology” on all newly manufactured highway vehicles as a way to reduce such accidents.
Such collision-avoidance systems — similar to those used in civil aviation — would typically depend on real-time transmissions of the GNSS-derived locations of nearby vehicles to provide enhanced “situational awareness” to drivers.
By Inside GNSS
The GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST) completed pathfinding activities at Lockheed Martin’s GPS III Processing Facility outside of Denver prior to it shipping to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Lockheed Martin photo 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
In a part of the world where frustrated drivers will park anywhere, including squarely on a sidewalk, a local newspaper is using location data to shame car owners into shaping up.
The Village, a Russian online publication serving Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev; created a free app that notes a badly parked vehicle’s make, color, and license plate information when users snap its picture.
By Dee Ann Divis
Federal officials are working to fill a funding shortfall nearly certain to occur next year given that both the House and Senate have cut an already halved budget request for GPS civil funding.
Sources confirm the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) are in talks about finding money to make up for the dramatic reduction. One source familiar with the situation said the FAA was searching its accounts for resources to address the loss.
By Inside GNSS
A new GPS-based technology designed to warn drivers in time to avoid collisions has anonymizing elements in its design to keep the location of vehicles private, according to the Department of Transportation (DoT).
DoT has focused a lot of effort on reducing motor vehicle accidents — a leading cause of death in the United States. Nearly 34,000 people died in collisions in 2010, the latest year for which data is available, according to the Centers for Disease Control. CDC estimates the lifetime costs of crash-related deaths and injuries in 2005 alone were $70 billion.
By Inside GNSS
NovAtel OEM638NovAtel Inc. has announced the addition of the two receivers and two antennas to its GNSS product lines: the OEM638 GNSS receiver card, ProPak6 enclosure, SMART6 integrated antenna, and AG-STAR antenna.
By Inside GNSS
EquationsWorking 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
Doctoral-level graduate students and early-career engineers, researchers and instructors from Japan and the rest of the world will meet at a weeklong summer seminar this August in Tokyo, sponsored by the Institute of Positioning, Navigation and Timing of Japan.
The summer school will take place in from August 19 through August 24 at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT). Classes wil be held in English.
The IRNSS-1A spacecraft. ISRO photoIndia’s Space Research Organization (ISRO) reports that its first Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System satellite (IRNSS-1A), has reached geosynchronous orbit and all subsystems are operating normally.
The spacecraft was launched July 1 on board a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C22, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. This is the twenty third consecutively successful mission of PSLV.
By Inside GNSS
In a set of decisions that could potentially slow GPS modernization both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees this week slashed funding for the civil community’s contribution to the GPS system from the Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) budget.
The House eliminated the entire amount of the White House budget request for $20 million, which is paid through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Senate cut a mere $5 million — 25 percent of what had been the requested.
By Inside GNSS
Assuming that its deal to acquire ST-Ericsson’s GNSS business closes in August as expected, Intel Corporation will find itself with expanded opportunities — and competitive set — in the mobile location marketplace.
Over the years, Intel has dominated the now-mature, even declining personal computer and server markets, but has found the rapidly growing mobile device environment — including smartphones and tablets —tougher going. Its Atom processor reportedly resides in only 12 percent of the former and 15 percent of the latter.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released an abbreviated fact sheet and a summary report on its evaluation of the risks to U.S. critical infrastructure from GPS disruptions.
The unsurprising “bottom line,” as the public summary put it: “U.S. critical infrastructure sectors are increasingly at risk from a growing dependency on GPS for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. Such dependencies are not always apparent.”
By Inside GNSS
