Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
GPS contractors are scrambling to assess new Pentagon budget-cutting directives that have the potential to slow GPS modernization.
The belt-tightening is in response to a three-way fiscal vise created by the failure of Congress and the White House to agree on a budget for this year, on a new limit for the nation’s debt, and on a plan to implement future budget cuts.
By Inside GNSS
Col. William “Bill” CooleyThe U.S. Air Force appears to have identified a future leader of the GPS Directorate.
At a time yet to be determined, Col. William T. "Bill" Cooley will take up the role of Senior Materiel Leader at the Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition office for developing and producing GPS satellites, ground systems, and military user equipment.
By Inside GNSS
A U.S. Navy program that uses technology developed by a Raytheon-led team to land aircraft in harsh weather has been recognized with a Department of Defense (DoD) engineering award.
The Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) Increment 1A ship system received the Systems Engineering Top 5 Programs Award for "successful implementation of systems engineering best practices resulting in program success," according to the DoD.
By Inside GNSS
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (ONRBAA13-002) seeking proposals from industry and academia for methods to mitigate the denial of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services to U.S. naval forces.
The BAA invitation reflects anxiety about the vulnerability of GPS and overreliance of U.S. military personnel and systems on the space-based system.
By Inside GNSS
The Office of Naval Research has awarded Rockwell Collins a contract to develop technology to locate and classify an adversary’s attempts to interfere with GPS signals and disrupt military operations.
“This program will help assure that essential high accuracy navigation and timekeeping services are available to weapons platforms and military users while enabling warfighters to identify potential threats,” said John Borghese, vice-president of the Rockwell Collins Advanced Technology Center.
By Inside GNSS
The GPS Directorate has approved three contracts to continue the military GPS user equipment (MGUE) development program for portable, ground-based receivers.
By Inside GNSS
ION GNSS 2012 ienjoyed clear skies and warm temperatures at the Nashville Convention Center in Tennessee. The U.S. Institute of Navigation-sponsored venerable conference closed on Friday, September 21.
Thursday’s workshops featured expanded discussion on China’s Compass/Beidou-2 and Europe’s Galileo. Two more Beidou MEO satellites were launched during the conference for a total of 15. Meanwhile, Europe plans an October 10 launch that will bring the total to four. Speakers "guaranteed a 30 satellite constellation by 2020."
By Inside GNSS
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has told those awaiting their slice of the GPS civil program budget that the funds are on the way.
The money, which is supposed to support that portion of the GPS program springing from the needs of civilian users, has been held up for months. In fact, as of late August — with less than 40 days left to go in the fiscal year — the money had not been transferred to either the military’s GPS Directorate or the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT).
By Dee Ann Divis
To help counter pressures from federal budget cutters and wireless advocates searching for more broadband spectrum, the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board is crafting a study documenting the economic benefits of GPS.
“We have a new assignment . . . to discover and disclose the economic contributions of the Global Positioning System,” Chairman Jim Schlesinger told the board at an August 15, 1012 meeting of the advisory board.
By Dee Ann Divis
China will build a testing and certification network for its BeiDou satellite navigation system over the next three years as part of an effort to make the GNSS system more competitive globally.
By Inside GNSS
L-3 Interstate Electronics Corporation (IEC) will conduct an operational demonstration of its new TruTrak Evolution (TTE) Type II Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) GPS receiver at AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America 2012 conference taking place this week (August 6–9, 2012) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The demonstration will highlight the new TruTrak receiver’s multi-use capabilities as a high-performing Ground-Based GPS Receiver Applications Module (GB-GRAM) for use on UAS platforms and precision weapons.
By Inside GNSS
[Updated July 2] Appropriators in both the U.S. House and Senate have slashed next year’s funding for support of the civil portion of the GPS program. Lawmakers halved the portion of the Federal Aviation Administration budget dedicated to supporting the civil signals as well as the ground network monitoring of those signals.
By Inside GNSS
Despite its formative role in supporting development of the Global Positioning System, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been hedging its positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) technology bets for some years as emerging threat scenarios become more sophisticated and widespread.
By Inside GNSS
