As engineers painstakingly work their way through tests of the first full operational capability (FOC) Galileo satellite at the European Space Agency’s European Space Research and Technology Center (ESA/ESTEC) in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, European space sources have acknowledged that the new-generation spacecraft’s maiden voyage will not occur until December 28, and even that date looks highly unlikely.

Late last year, Galileo program managers laid out an ambitious schedule of launches, including two dual-satellite launches this year. They wanted 14 to 18 FOC spacecraft in place by the end of next year so that they could declare the beginning of “early services” based on the system’s civil signals. But missing two planned 2013 launch dates will now cast further doubt on the prospects for achieving the latest milestones of the long-delayed program.

Meanwhile, European Union (EU) member states have begun independent testing of the Public Regulated Service (PRS) signal being broadcast by the four Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites.

Transmitted on two frequency bands, the encrypted PRS offers a highly accurate positioning and timing service, with access restricted to authorized users.

PRS access was initially considered for Galileo’s full operational capability (FOC) phase, but it has been enabled in 2013 in response to the strong interest of member states in this service, according to Miguel Manteiga Bautista, head of ESA’s Galileo Security Office. To allow early access to PRS during the current phase, the European Commission and ESA began the joint project ‘PRS Participants To IOV’ (PPTI) in July 2012.

“As a result, Belgium, France, Italy and the UK have now performed independent PRS acquisition and positioning tests. In parallel, ESA, through collaboration with Dutch and Italian authorities, is also conducting PRS fixed and mobile validation in several locations in the Netherlands and Italy,” said Manteiga.

ESA has made several tools available for the member states’ PRS testing, including test receivers and other qualification equipment. ESA also provided the know-how and expertise required to conduct these experimental campaigns.

ESA’s PRS Laboratory, based at ESTEC, was used to provide training, demonstrations, and sample data. The PRS tests have demonstrated a current autonomous positioning accuracy below 10 meters when in an optimal geometrical configuration.

“The PPTI project is still ongoing to test more advanced functionalities this coming autumn and to run the first aeronautical PRS tests in collaboration with the Dutch authorities,“ Manteiga said.

The project is the first step to ensure the use of the PRS service as soon as it is in full operation. It will be complemented by the PRS Pilot Projects, focused on PRS applications, which are currently being defines in a common effort among the EU member states, the European Commission, ESA, and the European GNSS Agency (GSA), which is in charge of Galileo security.

FOC SV Testing
ESA has begun acoustic tests, thermal vacuum, and other tests of the first two FOC satellites, which have arrived at ESTEC from manufacturer OHB in Bremen, Germany. Among the reported problematical aspects of the FOC satellites is the PRS signal transmission, which will operate at a higher power than the IOV spacecraft.

The initial tests will be followed by a System Compatibility Test Campaign in which the satellite is linked with Galileo Control Centers in Germany and Italy to transmit signals to ground user receivers as if it was already in orbit.

In July, ESA and the GSA invited companies to take part in a test campaign of Galileo chipsets to assess their readiness to support the reception and processing of Galileo signals in view of the planned declaration of early services.

The campaign will be undertaken by ESA between October 2013 and September 2014 and will consist of a series of laboratory and real-life signal tests making use of ESTEC facilities. Under GSA coordination, other product compatibility assessments may also be performed with the support of the European Joint Research Center in Ispra, Italy.

The tests will focus on the compatibility of the devices with the reception of Galileo Open Service Signals and their combined use with GPS and GLONASS, covering aspects such as time to first fix and accuracy. Depending on the capabilities of the devices, tests can be extended to cover assisted-GNSS performance.

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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. EASY RIDER
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
√ Not only has century-old American motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson used consumer focus groups for the first time to develop its newest “hogs,” it has responded to customers with a voice-activated touch-screen GPS unit, the first on a production model. Now the Easy Riders don’t have to wend their way to trouble, they can ask their chopper where to go.

1. EASY RIDER
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
√ Not only has century-old American motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson used consumer focus groups for the first time to develop its newest “hogs,” it has responded to customers with a voice-activated touch-screen GPS unit, the first on a production model. Now the Easy Riders don’t have to wend their way to trouble, they can ask their chopper where to go.

2. COLLABORATORY
Dayton, Ohio USA
√ Want to solve some knotty problems? The 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has set up an online collaborative platform to crowd-solve technical challenges. It’s aimed at science, technology, and engineering-oriented adults and older teenagers. Project 3 — coming soon — asks you to target the precise coordinates within the GPS constellation to launch the newest IIF.

3. SVN 64
Cape Canaveral, Florida USA
√ The fifth GPS IIF, SVN 64, is scheduled to take a ride on a Delta 4 launcher on October 17. Meanwhile, U.S. Air Force engineers are testing a new charging method that could reduce the rate of battery degradation and extend the life of the older IIRs and IIR-Ms, which make up 60 percent of the GPS constellation.

4. TAKE TWO
Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia
√ After the July 2 loss of three GLONASS-M satellites, Russia temporarily grounded the Proton launcher, and decided to send up two replacement SVs using the trusty Soyuz. Uragan/GLONASS-M 39 and 40 are scheduled to go up in September and October from Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Meanwhile, three senior managers at the space agency’s TsNIIMash, Central Institute for Machine Building, have been axed and charged in a continuing GLONASS corruption scandal.

5. KOREA’S OWN
Sejong City, Korea
√ On September 2, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency announced plans for the country’s own satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS). The open service will reduce the margin of error from the current 37 meters to 1 meter, it said. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport will start work in 2014 and expects to complete the system by 2018.

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Return to main article: “Measuring High Bandwidth GNSS Signals for Indoor Positioning”

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I Fell In Love With GNSS When . . .

“Two GNSS-related experiences really impressed me as a young professional and that I’ve never forgotten. The first involved adjusting a GPS-supported (GPS aerial control) aerial triangulation. By getting rid of most ground control points we managed to produce new results.

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I Fell In Love With GNSS When . . .

“Two GNSS-related experiences really impressed me as a young professional and that I’ve never forgotten. The first involved adjusting a GPS-supported (GPS aerial control) aerial triangulation. By getting rid of most ground control points we managed to produce new results.

“The second experience was when I had to compute an INS/GNSS trajectory with ring laser gyros. I was processing data for a hyperspectral aerial survey, trying to estimate a time-position-attitude trajectory to orientate the hyperspectral sensor’s geometric arrays, and all of this under a stiff deadline. We were able to see an aerial hyperspectral image corrected for the platform’s heading, pitch, and roll oscillations.

“Both of these experiences were amazing to me and influenced my professional life significantly, as I eventually became known for applying GPS and INS/GPS to airborne remote sensing.”

What GNSS Product, Application, or Engineering Innovation Would You Most Like to See?

“As a consumer, I dream of a GNS instead of a GNSS, where GNS stands for Global Navigation System. In other words, I would like to see a seamless indoor-and-outdoor positioning and timing capability.

“As a technologist, and after having worked with simulated signals, I would like to see the actual performance of multi-constellation receivers with actual satellite signals.

“As a scientist, I would like to see where miniaturization and modeling of inertial sensors bring us when integrated with multi-constellation receivers.

“And as a citizen of the world, I would like to see . . . some sort of multilateral agreement on the use, coordinated deployment, and funding of the various GNSSs for civilian applications.”

What Popular Notions About GNSS Most Annoy You?

“Many people still do not know the difference between positioning and cartography. ‘My GPS gave me the wrong directions’ is often heard, when the real problem is a bad map.”

Favorite Equation

“I have always been captivated by apparently simple mathematical constructs — equations, numbers, theorems, or whatever — that can describe complex phenomena in an elegant and powerful way. Physics and engineering would not exist without these simple concepts.”

An example is the topological invariant known as the Euler-Poincaré characteristic χ in algebraic topology.
Roughly speaking,

χ = F + V – E

where F, V, and E are the faces, vertices and edges of a polyhedron respectively. Thus for all spheres χ = 2 and for all toruses χ = 0.

Memorable Mentor

In addition to his scientific mentor Professor Carles Simó at the University of Barcelona, Colomina remembers an extraordinary teacher of mathematics from his school days.

“Ms. Esther Casellas, a physicist, taught me mathematics in a different, modern way. She made me change my mind – I had wanted to become a mechanical engineer, but I decided instead to go for applied mathematics at University.”

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Return to main article: "What’s Next for Practical Ubiquitous Navigation?"

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Return to main article: “Cooperative GNSS Authentication”

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