Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Miguel Manteiga BautistaThe first generation of the Galileo Program, at satellite and ground segment level, has been “an enormous success,” according to Miguel Manteiga Bautista, who recently spoke with Inside GNSS at his office at the European Space Agency’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, Netherlands.
By Inside GNSS
Q: Would you prefer to have more signals or more satellites?
A: This is somewhat of a classic GNSS question, but before getting to the answer, let’s seek some clarity about what is being asked. First, by definition, “more” signals or “more” systems must be referenced against some baseline configuration. This is commonly assumed to be a GPS L1 C/A solution, and this assumption is also used herein.
By Inside GNSS
Speakers at the 9th Annual Conference on European Space Policy wasted no time in addressing the somewhat worrying failure of several Galileo onboard clocks, as revealed by European Space Agency Director General Johan-Dietrich Woerner at a press briefing earlier in January in Paris. He made clear at the time that the clock failures, while indeed troubling, had had no effect on the operational integrity of the Galileo system.
By Peter Gutierrez
Figures and ChartsThe GPS community and Virginia-based Ligado are weighing new and upcoming test results as the standoff over interference with satellite navigation services enters its seventh year.
The dispute centers on the company’s now modified proposal to build a terrestrial wireless network supported by frequencies originally allocated for satellites. Though there had been a move some years earlier to augment the satellite services with ground stations the company’s first plan envisioned some 30,000 high-powered ground terminals.
By Dee Ann Divis
EquationsWorking Papers explore the technical and scientific themes that underpin GNSS programs and applications. This regular column is coordinated by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günter Hein, head of Europe’s Galileo Operations and Evolution.
By Günter W. Hein
Demo Test in Italy on Cagliari – Decimomannu line – February 24, 2017. From left: Josef Doppelbauer (Executive director of ERA – European Union Agency for Rail), Maurizio Gentile (Chief Executive Officer of RFI – Rete Ferroviaria Italiana), Jean-Pierre Loubinoux (Director General of UIC – the worldwide professional association representing the railway sector and promoting rail transport), Carlo des Dorides (Executive director of GSA).
The entrepreneurial space launch firm SpaceX won a head-to-head competition with United Launch Alliance (ULA) to secure its second GPS launch contract.
The launch of the GPS III spacecraft onboard a Falcon 9 rocket is expected to take place in 2019. The $96.5 million deal was officially announced March 14.
By Inside GNSS
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons.The U.S. Congress is prepared to deliver the coup de grace to a new rule aimed at protecting the personal information — including the geolocation — of broadband internet users. The move, one of a number aimed at eliminating Obama-era regulations, would slice through months of debate, and federal regulators’ own backpedaling, to kill the pro-privacy rule in a way that makes resurrecting it extremely difficult.
By Dee Ann Divis
Galileo search and rescue beacon. GSA Photo.In effort to improve safety, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) has officially launched the Galileo and EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) test campaign for eCall devices, which allows eCall device manufacturers to pre-test Galileo and EGNOS compatibility prior to type approval.
By Inside GNSS
The Federal Communications Commission is being asked to choose between the immediate benefits of officially improving U.S. satellite navigation receivers and the possibility that, in doing so, it may raise interference levels in a neighboring band or make it harder to develop alternative uses for those adjacent frequencies.
By Dee Ann Divis
Universal and precise positioning services on Mars may not be just science fiction in our future. A proposed theoretical concept of a satellite navigation system for Mars promises a solution for future manned missions and future planetary exploration robotic missions to the red planet, according to new research released this week.
By Inside GNSS
It’s been a big couple of weeks for second-generation satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) technology and for Bethesda, Maryland-based global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin.
By Inside GNSS
