Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
MBOC signal at top, BOC (1,1) at bottom(Updated May 21) U.S. warfighters could be affected and European navigation users could end up paying more if the British are able to enforce a patent on technology at the heart of the new GPS and Galileo civil signals.
By Inside GNSS
The launch of the first GPS III satellite has slipped to 2015 and completion of the ground control system is now delayed by up to two years, according to the chief of the Air Force’s space operations
“We’ll be ready to launch the first GPS III in 2015, but it now appears the next generation GPS Operational Control System, or OCX, won’t be ready for about a year or two after that,” General William L. Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command told attendees at the 28th Annual National Space Symposium.
By Inside GNSS
UK-based Racelogic has been singled out as a double winner in the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, receiving both Innovation and International Trade awards.
Announced on April 21 to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday, the 2012 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise listings contained 209 companies, with Racelogic being one of only four to be honored with the award for both Innovation and International Trade.
By Inside GNSS
Legislation moving through Congress could reshape efforts to counter GPS interference as the government steps up its efforts to fight cybercrime and protect critical systems like the power grid and communications networks.
Though cybersecurity generally focuses on protecting information systems the broad definitions in some legislation now on the Hill appear to encompass GPS support systems, some user communities, and even the constellation itself.
By Inside GNSS
Variations on the common GPS/Galileo MBOC signalThe U.S. government is so unhappy about a British patent claim on the new civil GPS signal that, if things cannot be worked out, officals might consider abandoning the countries’ interoperable signal structure, sources told Inside GNSS.
By Inside GNSS
Example of site logistic design by M.A. Mortenson Company using Google’s SketchUp 3D modeling toolTrimble announced plans today (April 26, 2012) to acquire SketchUp, a popular 3D modeling tools, from its Silicon Valley neighbor, Google, Inc.
Sunnyvale, California–based Trimble signed a definitive agreement with Google, headquartered in Mountain View, with the transaction expected to close in the second quarter of 2012. Although the companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal, a Trimble news release said the transaction “is not expected to be material to 2012 earnings per share.”
By Inside GNSS
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded Raytheon Company a two-year contract extension to continue to provide services for the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The $30.1 million contract extends the period of performance through Sept. 24, 2013.
By Inside GNSS
The core structure of the GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST) stands vertical in Lockheed Martin’s GPS III Processing Facility. LM photo.An emphasis on quality assurance in system engineering and components in the first GPS III satellite now under development has driven projected costs up in the program above the budgeted amount, leading the U.S. Air Force to deny a $70 million incentive fee to prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
By Inside GNSS
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
Christopher HegartyPerhaps for the first time in the nearly 40 years of satellite navigation, all four GNSS programs and regional systems appear to have firm — if not always unencumbered — development paths ahead of them.
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Compass/Bei- Dou, Japan’s MSAS and QZSS, and India’s GAGAN and IRNSS systems are bringing new or modernizing elements into the world. Key program enablers — such things as budgets, satellite construction, launches and launch vehicles, new signal designs — all appear favorably aligned.
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
1. DEAD IN THE WATER
San Francisco, California and Washington D.C., USA
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
