Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) 2011 opened its registration page on April 1 for entries in this year’s international search for new GNSS applications and product developments.
This year’s competition offers business start-up aid worth €1 million ($1.4 million) and a cash prize pool of €100,000.
By Inside GNSS
John Porcari, Dep. Secretary of Transportation. DoT photoIn a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, the second-ranking officials from the U.S. departments of defense (DoD) and transportation (DoT) have issued the strongest administration message yet regarding LightSquared’s proposal to build a network of high-powered terrestrial transmitters broadcasting near the GPS L1 and other GNSS frequencies.
By Inside GNSS
GPS-guided APMI mortar in the field. U.S. Army photoU.S. soldiers in Afghanistan are the first Army combat units to have access to GPS-guided 120-millimeter mortar cartridge capability — a rapidly fielded capability that has put precision guidance into a still-smaller military form factor.
The Program Executive Office (PEO) for Ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, fielded the Accelerated Precision Mortar Initiative (APMI) cartridges to an infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) earlier this month, and is scheduled to field cartridges to the seven other IBCTs in Afghanistan within six months.
By Inside GNSS
Brad Parkinson, who has received many honors for establishing and serving as the first program director of the GPS Joint Program Office (now GPS Directorate), is one of four U.S. Naval Academy graduates who will be honored in a Friday (March 25, 2011) ceremony for lifelong achievement and will receive the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Award.
By Inside GNSS
NovAtel Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and Raven Industries, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, have announced a new strategic partnership that will see NovAtel’s GNSS positioning technology integrated into Raven’s line of precision agriculture products.
By Inside GNSS
Talk about your bad timing.
The outcome of the LightSquared/GPS controversy threatens to make President Obama a three-time loser in technology policy matters.
In March 2010, his administration proposed to open for drilling for oil and natural gas extensive expanses along the Atlantic coast, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and off the north coast of Alaska, many of those areas for the first time. Less than a month later the Deepwater Horizon oil well explosion unleashed the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
By Inside GNSS
Navigation payloads being developed by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) for the full operational capability (FOC) Galileo satellites have passed the preliminary design review (PDR) by panel including the European Space Agency (ESA), demonstrating that they have a sufficient level of design maturity.
SSTL is teamed with OHB System of Bremen, Germany for the provision of the first 14 FOC satellites. OHB is the prime contractor and builder of the spacecraft platform.
By Inside GNSS
NovAtel FlexPak6NovAtel Inc. has announced the launch of its FlexPak6 GNSS enclosure, the first product to house the company’s new OEM628 multi-constellation receiver.
According to the Calgary, Alberta, Canada–based company, the 120-channel FlexPak6 is designed for easy integration into new user equipment and is capable of tracking all current and upcoming GNSS satellite signals, including GPS L1/L2/L2C/L5 (code and carrier phase), GLONASS L1/L2, Galileo E1/E5a/E5b/Alt-BOC, Compass/BeiDou-2 and satellite-based augmentation systems.
By Inside GNSS
House-hunting is turning out to be one of the first tasks facing Carlo des Dorides, new executive director of the European GNSS Agency, also known by the acronym — GSA — of its former name, the GNSS Supervisory Authority. And as with many new homeowners, security will be well up on the list of attributes.
Des Dorides is engaged in an expedited process to find a new home for the GSA in Prague, Czech Republic,
By Inside GNSS
TPS GR-5Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) has launched its new GR-5 GNSS receiver using patented Fence Antenna technology and expanded tracking-channel support.
By Inside GNSS
Omnistar DGPS world mapTrimble announced on March 16 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets related to the OmniSTAR GNSS signal corrections business from Fugro N.V.
The acquisition is expected to significantly expand Trimble’s worldwide ability to provide correction services for a broad range of land-based applications in addition to OmniSTAR’s current focus in agriculture. Fugro’s offshore marine business is unaffected.
By Inside GNSS
EGNOS-equipped cockpitOn March 2, ESSP (the European Satellite Services Provider) declared the safety-of-life (SoL) signal from the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) officially available for use by aviation, following European Commission (EC) authorization to provide the service.
Similar to the U.S. Federal Aviation (FAA) Administration’s Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), EGNOS transmits real-time corrections to GPS signals over a large expanse of Europe and north Africa.
By Inside GNSS
