Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Equations 1 – 11Q: How does a GNSS receiver estimate velocity?
A: Stand-alone single-frequency GNSS receivers represent the largest slice of the commercial positioning market. Such receivers operate mainly in single point position (SPP) mode and estimate velocity either by differencing two consecutive positions (i.e., approximating the derivative of user position) or by using Doppler measurements related to user-satellite motion.
By Inside GNSS
Carlo des Dorides, El?bieta Bie?kowskaLast January, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) announced a new invitation to tender for the role of Galileo service operator (GSOp). Speaking at the recent EU Space Policy Conference in Brussels, GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides called it the largest contract ever to be awarded under the Galileo program.
“It will shape the future of Galileo,” he said.
By Peter Gutierrez
Prof. David LastThe U.S. government appears to be closing in on a decision about whether to revive plans for an enhanced Loran (eLoran) system, as a backup for the position, navigation, and timing (PNT) information provided by GPS signals.
By Dee Ann Divis
GPS+EGNOS tracking device able to use EGNOS OS and EDAS mounted on a containerThe European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) has a European regional coverage that could be extended quite easily to areas adjacent to the European Union. Backed by the European Commission, a public/private consortium is operating programs of technical assistance to prepare nations in the Mediterranean region to adopt and exploit European GNSS services in their priority market segments, namely aviation and road freight transport/logistics.
By Inside GNSS
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced today (March 13, 2015) that the second Galileo full operational capability (FOC) satellite launched into the wrong orbit last August has now entered its corrected target orbit, which will allow detailed testing to assess the performance of its navigation payload.
By Inside GNSS
David Madden, Space and Missile Systems Center executive director. U.S. Air Force photoThe Air Force is working on a creative acquisition strategy to ensure there is a vigorous competition to build the next tranche of GPS III satellites, says a key acquisition official.
By Inside GNSS
Chris Blackford of Sky-Futures speaking at AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems Europe 2015. Peter Gutierrez photoJust as you do when you get in your car, the UAS, UAV, drone, RPAS and even ROAV communities — who probably need to agree on an acronym — are beginning to take GNSS for granted. But presenters at the AUVSI Unmanned Systems Europe 2015 conference held Tuesday and Wednesday (March 3–4, 2015) in Brussels had little to say on the subject, to our great disappointment, even though virtually all of the vehicle/vessel systems under discussion use it and need it.
By Inside GNSS
New rules recently adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to help emergency responders better locate wireless 911 callers highlight the role of GPS and GNSS technologies while boosting the use of alternative positioning technologies in indoor locations.
However, the new enhanced (11 (E911) rules, adopted January 29 and published on February 4, explicitly avoided a decision on the use of GNSS systems other than GPS.
By Inside GNSS
July is likely to be a key month for the GPS program’s new ground control segment as development stresses, a government watchdog report, and the budget calendar converge, potentially triggering changes to the program.
By Inside GNSS
Ray Clore, U.S. State Department. Peter Gutierrez photoAlmost half of the sessions at the International Navigation Conference (INC) 2015 held this week (February 24–26) in Manchester, England, were devoted to the theme of GNSS resilience and vulnerability, a topic that Dana Goward of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation has been trying to drive home for years.
By Inside GNSS
U.S. lawmakers, dissatisfied with the pace of international efforts to prevent losses like that of an Malaysia Airlines plane last year, may push through legislation requiring tracking capability on planes operating in the United States.
Nearly a year after flight MH370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a year away from adopting a standard for aircraft tracking technology, Ambassador Michael Lawson, the U. S. representative to the organization told lawmakers on Wednesday.
By Inside GNSS
Apparently working overtime during the President’s Day weekend, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today (February 15, 2015) proposed a framework of regulations <http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/recently_published> that would allow routine use of certain small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) while maintaining flexibility to accommodate future technological innovations. An overview of the small UAS rule can be viewed at
By Inside GNSS
A U.S. District Court has dismissed most of two lawsuits brought in 2013 against GNSS manufacturers stemming from the effort by LightSquared Inc. to build a high-powered broadband wireless network using RF spectrum adjacent to the GPS L1 band and allocated for mobile satellite services (MSS).
By Inside GNSS
