Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The Galileo satellite navigation system has been in the news a lot this week, and now comes word from the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) that Galileo Satellites GSAT0215, GSAT0216, GSAT0217, and GSAT0218, launched in December 2017, have been commissioned for operational use.
By Inside GNSS
HERE Technologies recently announced the availability of HERE XYZ, a real-time, flexible, and open location data management cloud service built for a broad range of developers and users: from students to small and medium businesses to large enterprises to data journalists and cartographers. The service, currently in Beta, fills a major gap for mapmakers and developers of location-aware applications by providing live access to uploaded data, complete flexibility in rendering tools, and cloud services to share your location data with the world in an instant.
By Inside GNSS
Nominations for officers were submitted by the 2019-2021 Nominating Committee of The Institute of Navigation. The ION’s Nominating Committee was chaired by Dr. Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska and included three representatives from each region.
Additional Nominees. Pursuant to Article V of The Institute of Navigation’s bylaws, “additional nominations may be made by petition, signed by at least 25 members entitled to vote for the office for which the candidate is nominated.” All additional nominees must fulfill nomination requirements as indicated in the ION bylaws and the nomination must be received at the ION National Office by November 7.
By Inside GNSS
A recent General Accountability Office (GAO) report is highly critical of the cyber security, or lack thereof, in U.S. weapons systems. One of the examples of cyber-attacks it lists is GPS spoofing.
The report, published this month, goes on to say:
“…weapon systems are dependent on external systems, such as positioning and navigation systems and command and control systems in order to carry out their missions—and their missions can be compromised by attacks on those other systems. A successful attack on one of the systems the weapon depends on can potentially limit the weapon’s effectiveness, prevent it from achieving its mission, or even cause physical damage and loss of life.”
By Inside GNSS
In the framework of GNSS cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Japan, a test was recently conducted of a GNSS-based global Emergency Warning Service using Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), which delivered impressive results.
By Inside GNSS
Topcon Positioning Group announced today at INTERGEO the latest addition to its HiPer series of integrated receivers — the HiPer VR is designed to provide a versatile solution with the most advanced GNSS technology available.
“The HiPer VR is packed with the most powerful GNSS technology in a housing built to withstand the harshest field environments,” said Alok Srivastava, director of GNSS Product Management. “The Topcon advanced GNSS chipset with Universal Tracking Channels™ technology allows the HiPer VR to automatically track signals from all available constellations — including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, IRNSS (NavIC), QZSS, SBAS — now and into the future.”
By Inside GNSS
The program for the Royal Institute of Navigation’s International Navigation Conference 2018 is now available online, but if you’re at this week’s ION GNSS+ conference in Miami, Fla., you can stop by Booth #516 for additional details.
Scheduled for November 12-15, 2018 at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel, Bristol, UK, INC 2018 — Navigation Challenges and Societal Benefits —is sure to provide attendees numerous benefits.
By Inside GNSS
At the ESA/JRC International Summer School on GNSS in Austria last month, one of the participants asked us during the evening panel — where they can address any kind of question to the lecturers and experts — What does satellite navigation look like in 50 and in 100 years from now?
By Günter W. Hein
The recently concluded Arab Institute of Navigation biennial conference in Cairo, “GNSS, the Key to Innovation,” featured a wide variety of presentations of interest to navigators and technologists alike.
Presenters ranged from representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, to those from a transportation company that uses GNSS-enabled tracking while transporting priceless ancient artifacts to the under-construction Grand Egyptian Museum.
By Inside GNSS
According to the European Commission “…GNSS cannot be the sole means of PNT information … for critical applications requiring continuous availability and fail-safe operations.”
Similar realizations in the United States, United, Kingdom, South Korea and elsewhere have led to a revitalization of efforts to examine Alternative Positioning, Navigation and Timing (APNT) systems that could complement and reinforce our exceptionally valuable, yet vulnerable, GNSS signals.
By Dana A. Goward
At a recent conference sponsored by the French space agency CNES, positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) concerns for autonomous vehicles and intelligent transportation systems were highlighted.
By Inside GNSS
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a new effort to ascertain the real-world risks posed by the loss of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) service and how those risks might be reduced, said James Platt, director of DHS’s PNT Program Management Office. On the table is testing, best practices, partnerships, a new management approach and possibly standards and a backup system.
By Dee Ann Divis
The new Cybersecurity Solarium Commission should consider addressing GPS vulnerabilities as it develops a strategy to protect the U.S. against attacks on its computer systems and infrastructure, experts agreed.
Inspired by an analysis that guided officials during the Cold War, the U.S. is about to launch a yearlong assessment of its cybersecurity situation with the goal of devising a long-term strategy
By Dee Ann Divis
