Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Gian Gherardo Calini. GSA photoAccording to European Union (EU) figures, there should be €90 billion in benefits to be reaped by industry as a result of Europe’s €11 billion investment in Galileo. But what that really means is that there will be €90 billion in new income out there for someone to take.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC ) began testing modernized civil navigation (CNAV) message capabilities on the GPS L2C and L5 signals for the first time yesterday (June 15, 2013).
This first test period is scheduled to continue through July 1 (Julian Day 182), according to a Notice Advisory to NAVSTAR Users (NANU 2013034), although a tentative CNAV test plan shows the tests ending on June 29.
By Inside GNSS
Spirent GSS6425Spirent Communications has launched its GSS6425 multi-frequency GNSS record and playback (RPS) test system, a self-contained and portable unit that allows users to record and play back data in the field without the need for an additional PC or external power.
The GSS6425 provides customers with RF recordings on for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS (Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System) constellations, including L1, L2, and L5 frequencies representing more than 30 megahertz of bandwidth.
By Inside GNSS
[Updated June 3, 2013] With the budget vise tightening, top Pentagon managers are readying some potentially dramatic changes to the GPS constellation — changes that promise to lower both the cost of the satellites and the expense of putting them into orbit.
The first changes would be subtle and are linked to buying the next block of GPS III satellites — a decision that sources confirm will be made by the end of September.
By Dee Ann Divis
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
1. PESTS
State of California, USA
√ The California Agriculture department is using collective intelligence and GPS to “report a pest.” State residents can download the new CDFA smartphone app and use it to photograph and report bad bugs when they see ‘em. Those with iPhones can choose to send GPS coordinates for quick response to invasive pest emergencies.
Prof. Jingnan Liu, Chinese Academy of EngineeringSince announcing plans in late 2006 to build its own GNSS system — BeiDou-2 (BDS), China proceeded quickly to establish a fully operational regional system late last year with a clear plan to complete a global system by 2020.
Beginning with its first launch in April 2007, BDS has put 16 satellites in orbit, some in dual launches, with 14 BeiDou space vehicles currently transmitting healthy signals: 5 in geostationary orbits (GEO), 5 in inclined geosynchronous orbits (IGSO), and 4 middle Earth orbit (MEO) spacecraft.
By Inside GNSS
Di Qiu at the site of her current employerSIDEBAR: Di Qiu’s Compass Points
Landing all-weather aircraft safely in storms. Protecting sensitive data not only through encryption but based on the location at which it is being accessed. Ensuring that accurate and timely information reaches first responders responding to emergencies.
Although still in the early part of her career, Di Qiu has already made significant contributions to these crucial applications of navigation technology.
By Inside GNSS
Jan Brecht-Clark, director, National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and TimingWith just more than four months to go in the 2013 fiscal year, sequestration and furloughs are taking a bite out of key research and the work of the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) — the government nexus for GPS-related policy matters.
The NCO is an interagency organization, explained its director, Jan Brecht-Clark in an emailed response; so, “each individual staff member is subject to furloughs implemented by their home agency as a result of sequestration.”
By Inside GNSS
The October entry in this EU-sponsored series of free GNSS training workshops concerns GNSS vulnerability. It will take place at the University of Nottingham on October 8, 9 and 10.
The instructors will be Terry Moore, Alan Dodson and Marcio Aquino, all faculty at University of Nottingham Geospatial Institute.
The topics:
GNSS Overview: Position fixing, dead reckoning, space segment and SV blocks, ground control and improvement programs,user segment and applications
By Inside GNSS
System engineers across the country may soon be planning, in some cases perhaps for the first time, what they would do if they could not use the GPS service.
The effort is part of an expanded White House initiative to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure. Alhough infrastructure protection programs have been under way for some time, they did not necessarily address GPS vulnerabilities explicitly.
By Inside GNSS
FIGURE 1: ISTA (left) and GATE (right) measuring vans at the parking place at the GATE site in BerchtesgadenWorking 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.
For the complete story, including figures, graphs, and images, please download the PDF of the article, above.
By Inside GNSS
Existing methods for improving the GNSS performance commonly attempt to enhance the signal processing and navigation estimation parts of a single receiver. Such approaches, however, leave unexplored the potential benefits inherent to the integration of data from multiple receivers.
By Inside GNSS
Paul Flament, Head, European Commission Satellite Navigation Unit. Photo by Peter GutierrezPaul Flament is head of the European Commission’s Satellite Navigation Unit. His primary job, essentially, is to manage the Galileo program of the European Union (EU). With four operational satellites now in orbit and an ambitious schedule to set in place a constellation of 26 by 2015, Flament sat down with Inside GNSS to talk about a number of pressing issues that could affect the future of Galileo.
Flament first addressed the EU GNSS Regulation, the much-anticipated document that sets out just who will do what in the future Galileo program.
By Inside GNSS
