Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Fourteen maritime organizations have petitioned the U.S. Coast Guard to seek a resolution by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to address disruption of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals. The IMO Council, its most senior governing body, meets next on July 15 at its headquarters in London.
By Dana A. Goward
Test drive illuminates need to protect GNSS with proactive cybersecurity strategies
Tesla Model S and Model 3, electric cars built for speed and safety, are vulnerable to cyberattacks aimed at their navigation systems, according to recent research from Regulus Cyber. During a test drive using Tesla’s Navigate on Autopilot feature, a staged attack caused the car to suddenly slow down and unexpectedly veer off the main road.
By Inside GNSS
The GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) issued the following statement on reintroduction of the Moving FIRST Act by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Richard Burr (R-NC), Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), as well as Representative Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA). By establishing the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Challenge Grant Program, this legislation will encourage the use of technology, including the Global Positioning System (GPS), to advance innovation across communities nationwide.
By Inside GNSS
New Board Designation Expected This Fall
The leading U.S. panel of satellite navigation experts, the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board (“PNT Advisory Board”) opened its June meeting with a renewed charter, a new chairman and seven new members.
By Dee Ann Divis
Our digital economy depends on keeping data safe from hackers, and cybersecurity is a priority for the Government of Canada. The Canadian Space Agency’s Quantum EncrYption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat) mission will test quantum technology that protects communications in space.
By Inside GNSS
[Editor’s Note: This article was written and submitted by Mark Crews and John Betz.]
With the launch of the first next-generation GPS III satellite, GPS III Space Vehicle 01 (GPS III SV01), on December 23, 2018, the Global Positioning System (GPS) took a major step in modernizing technology and capability. The U.S. Air Force has continually improved GPS since the launch of the first GPS Block I satellite in 1978, and this ongoing modernization has provided new signals, greater accuracy, and increased robustness for civil and military users. After the first 10 GPS III satellites are launched over the next few years, up to 22 GPS III Follow-on (GPS IIIF) satellites will provide yet another step increase in GPS capabilities.
By Inside GNSS
I read with great enthusiasm Dee Ann Divis’ article New Chimera Signal Enhancement Could Spoof-Proof GPS Receivers. Logan Scott is one of the brightest people I know, and I very much enjoyed his presentation about Chimera last week at the National PNT Advisory Board’s public meeting in Alexandria, Virginia.
By Dana A. Goward
Location privacy is on the minds of lawmakers from both parties with provisions about disclosure, data collection and sharing in more than half a dozen bills. There is also language in a House appropriations bill nixing the use of federal funds for GPS tracking.
By Dee Ann Divis
An increasing number of applications require accurate, reliable, and traceable signals for time and synchronization. Key fields of application include banking and finance, telecom networks and electricity grids. GMV’s WANTime is a new time service for the city of Madrid, Spain, distributed using the White-Rabbit network protocol over optical fiber. A pilot customer of the service is currently the Madrid Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Madrid), connected to GMV’s datacenter by a network link of around 50 kilometers.
By Inside GNSS
In the past few months, there have been articles in the press providing information and misinformation in advance of the GPS week rollover that occurred on April 6. Readers were warned to retire obsolete receivers, update software, check with manufacturers, and even perform testing of critical devices.
By John W. Betz
Nominations are now being accepted for the Institute of Navigation Satellite Division’s prestigious Johannes Kepler Award – the annual award honoring an individual during their lifetime for sustained and significant contributions to the development of satellite navigation and the Bradford W. Parkinson Award – the award recognizing an outstanding graduate student in the field of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
By Inside GNSS
Hostile cyber operations such as jamming and spoofing of GNSS signals are a growing concern. While they do not cause major damages to the satellite navigation system as such, they can have severe effects on critical national infrastructures and many other systems. Here, we address how international telecommunications law as well as the international law on the prevention of war apply in this context.
By Ingo Baumann
Improvements to GPS performance are often incremental, achieved by squeezing better performance out of existing systems with clever tweaks, smarter analysis and sharper receivers. Then again, every once in a while, there’s a huge leap in the capabilities of the system itself—an advance so big that it makes you appreciate all over again the elegant wizardry of satellite navigation.
By Dee Ann Divis
