Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
ION GNSS 2012 exhibition hall. Institute of Navigation photooThe Institute of Navigation ION GNSS 2012 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last week (September 18–21, 2012) lived up to its reputation as a premiere forum for new GNSS product announcements.
By Inside GNSS
Ariane launch poster for ASTRA 2F and GSAT-10Arianespace successfully launched India’s GSAT-10 satellite this evening (September 28, 2012) on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The GSAT-10 carries India’s second GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation) payload, following a successful launch of the nation’s first space-based augmentation for GPS last year.
By Inside GNSS
QZSS satellite (JAXA image)The Japanese Cabinet Office issued an official announcement on Friday (September 21, 2012) approving plans to procure and finance construction of the ground control system and the operation of the next phase of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS). Procurement is going to be carried out using PFI (private finance initiative) scheme.
By Inside GNSS
Future of air traffic control (FAA image)A public-private partnership created to reduce the financial burden involved in implementing the nation’s GPS-based, next-generation (NextGen) air transportation system has raised its first rounds of financing and is now negotiating contracts with its charter customers.
“We have . . . closed our first tranche of equity,” said Jim Hughey, senior vice-president of the NextGen Equipage Fund. The fund has secured a total of $100 million in commitments with some $40 million of that coming from leading aerospace companies.
By Dee Ann Divis
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
China successfully launched another two Compass/BeiDou satellites into space at 3:10 a.m. Beijing time on Wednesday (September 19, 2012), according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
They were the 14th and 15th satellites for the nation’s GNSS system, and presumably the fourth and fifth middle-Earth-orbiting (MEO) satellites in the constellation. The satellites, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, were boosted by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.
By Inside GNSS
Paul BenshoofLocata Corporation has announced that U.S. Air Force (USAF) veteran Paul Benshoof, formerly chief of strategic development at the 746th Test Squadron (746TS) at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, has joined the company as global business development manager for military and government applications in the United States and abroad.
By Inside GNSS
Trimble Dimensions, the 2012 International User Conference, will take place at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada from November 5 to 7.
Early-bird pricing has been extended to September 14.
The annual event targets surveying, engineering, construction, mapping, GIS, geospatial, infrastructure, utilities and field service management professionals who use positioning products developed and sold by Trimble companies. The companies include: Accubid, Applanix, Meridian Systems, OmniStar, Pacific Crest, PeopleNet, Plancal, QuickPen and Tekla.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. and European GNSS programs will launch satellites within a week of each other next month.
A GPS Block IIF satellite is scheduled to be lifted into space on October 4 and a second pair of Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites, on October 10.
Meanwhile, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) opened its new office in Prague, Czech Republic, last Thursday (September 6, 2012).
By Inside GNSS
"BeiDou Applications – Opportunities and Challenges" is the subject of the 2013 China Satellite Navigation Conference to be held in Wuhan, China on May 15, 16 and 17, 2013.The event will be held at the Wuhan International Conference & Exhibition Center (696 Jiefang Road, Hankou, Wuhan, China).
It is sponsored by the China Satellite Navigation Office and a number of other official PRC agencies.
The official language of the conference is Chinese with simultaneous English translation.
By Inside GNSS
Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin have successfully completed the first launch readiness exercise for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation GPS III satellites.
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
