Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) has posted a list of location-GNSS-Galileo based applications that may be useful tools against diffusion of COVID-19.
The applications cover a range of uses from supporting public authorities to assisting citizens in their everyday life under social distancing, closures and quarantines.
By Inside GNSS
“Galileo is a true European success story,
and I am proud if in a small way I have contributed to building Europe with it.”
European Union space mainstay Carlo des Dorides, Executive Director of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) since 2011, retired from this post at the end of January. He was scheduled to speak at the 12th EU Space Conference in Brussels that month, but had to skip out when he was called to a special budget session of the European Parliament. It would have been his last appearance in a public forum as GSA chief. Inside GNSS met with him in Brussels to talk and to say farewell.
By Peter Gutierrez
The Second Space Operations Squadron (2SOPS) at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado officially took control of the second GPS III satellite in orbit on March 23. GPS III SV02 was designed and built by Lockheed Martin, with a payload provided by L3Harris.
A video rendering of a GPS III satellite gives a slightly vertigo-inducing experience of a ballet through space and above the Earth.
Since 2015, controlled reception pattern antennas (CRPAs) have come onto the market for civil applications where the need to counter increasing GNSS signal jamming and spoofing has grown exponentially. Highly classified and previously available only to authorized military users, these powerful — and unfamiliar — components expand protection for critical infrastructure. All systems incorporating them should be tested for revamped vulnerabilities. This is how.
A free webinar on Wednesday, March 25 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time addresses the topic “GNSS Vulnerability Testing and the Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna (CRPA).”
By Inside GNSS
Beijing’s municipal government released a three-year plan to promote the innovation and development of industries related to the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. The total output of BeiDou navigation and location service industry in the Beijing region will exceed 100 billion yuan ($14.4 billion U.S. dollars) by 2022, according to the plan document.
By Inside GNSS
One may well ask, when doesn’t it?
That aside, some controversy has arisen in the world of competitive running, and self-competitive running as in Personal Bests, or PBs. Runners find their fitness trackers and watches don’t necessarily tell them the truth in terms of distance travelled. In fact, they very rarely tell the absolute truth. Which matters.
By Alan Cameron
The European Space Agency (ESA) has preordered four additional Galileo launches on the new Ariane 6 rocket from Arianespace. Starting in January 2022, the launches will orbit eight satellites from Batch 3 to support the final deployment of the Galileo constellation and the replacement of certain satellites.
By Inside GNSS
Swift Navigation and Deutsche Telekom announced a partnership to incorporate Swift’s Skylark Cloud Corrections Services within Telekom’s communications infrastructure through its new Precise Positioning product offering. The companies’ joint lane-level accurate Precise Positioning is designed for level 2 and 3 automotive applications
By Inside GNSS
Septentrio introduced a new compact and robust integrated heading GPS/GNSS receiver, the AsteRx SB ProDirect. It delivers accurate heading and pitch or heading and roll information in addition to reliable high-accuracy RTK positioning, according to the company.
By Inside GNSS
The White House wants to maintain the pattern of steady investment in the GPS program though it appears the administration has decided to go more slowly on deployment of the new GPS III Follow-on (GPS IIIF) satellites.
By Dee Ann Divis
A new GNSS-centric application programming interface (API) library for Android and IoT developers is on the verge of appearing, and is now accepting registrations for its software development kit. The Fulfilling Enhanced Location Accuracy in the Mass Market through Initial Galileo Services (FLAMINGO) reportedly achieves half-meter accuracy in a smartphone.
By Inside GNSS
Apple has filed an application to patent a machine-learning system for correcting GNSS positions based on consumer location estimates gathered from the setting. The technology could be applied to the company’s mobile mapping app.
By Inside GNSS
At the 12th EU Space Conference in Brussels, Thierry Breton made his first appearance as the new European Commissioner for Internal Market, and a remarkable appearance it was.
By Peter Gutierrez