policy Archives - Page 14 of 22 - Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design

January 30, 2011

GPS/ GNSS Community Feels New Telecom Interference Threat from LightSquared

In his State of the Union address on January 25, President Obama held up the Global Positioning System as a prime example of government providing “cutting-edge scientists and inventors with the support that they need” to create world-leading, job-creating innovation.

The following day, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) International Bureau approved a conditional waiver allowing LightSquared Subsidiary LLC to build tens of thousands of terrestrial transmitters for wireless communications in frequencies on either side of the GPS L1 band.

By Inside GNSS

January 25, 2011

EC Names DG-Enterprise Deputy Director to Handle Satellite Navigation Programs

The European Commission (EC) has appointed a new deputy director in the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry, who will have among his responsibilities overseeing the three units responsible for Galileo and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).

By Inside GNSS

January 18, 2011

Galileo Mid-Term Review Foresees €1.9 Billion in Additional Costs

Antonio Tajani, EC Vice-President. EC photo

A European Commission (EC) communication sent to the European Parliament and European Council today (January 18, 2011) estimates that completing a fully operational capability (FOC), 30-satellite Galileo system and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) will cost an additional €1.9 billion above the €3.4 billion already allocated.

By Inside GNSS

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January 16, 2011

OHB-System Disclaims Wikileaks Report of CEO Comments on Galileo

Berry Smutny, OHB-System CEO. OHB-System photo

OHB-System AG, builder of Galileo navigation satellites, has issued a statement from its chairman denying a WikiLeaks report that the German company’s CEO had told U.S. embassy officials that the European GNSS program was a “stupid idea” and “a waste of EU tax payers money.”

By Inside GNSS

December 31, 2010

GNSS Interoperability, or Can’t We All Just Get Along Together?

Simple harmonic motion

Return to "GNSS Year in Review"

At first glance, interoperability and its implication of at least some degree of cooperation seem at odds with the idea of competing GNSS systems.

Yet the mantra of compatibility, interoperability, and even — in the terminology of GPS pioneer Brad Parkinson —interchangeability has taken on a nearly unanimous harmony in the pronouncements and deliberations of GNSS leaders.

By Inside GNSS

December 30, 2010

Europe’s Galileo Reaches Many 2010 Milestones – but Satellite Launches Still Delayed

Soyuz launch of IOV satellite. ESA illustration

Europe’s Galileo space-based navigation system still awaits launch of its first in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites — now set for August 2011 — but the program is rolling out a steady stream of announcements of milestones reached.

Most recently, European Commission (EC) and European Space Agency (ESA) officials inaugurated the Fucino Galileo Control Center, 130 kilometers (81 miles) east of Rome, which will be responsible for the Ground Mission Segment.

By Inside GNSS

December 1, 2010

European Space Council Backs Galileo; 2011 Funding Still Unresolved

ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and European Space Council co-chair Sabine Laruelle, Belgian science minister. Photo: ESA – S. Corvaja

While funding and technical issues continue to roil the waters at the program and operational level, Galileo and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) have received a strong reaffirmation of support from the highest levels of the European Union (EU) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

By Inside GNSS

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November 30, 2010

United States Appeals Courts Disagree on GPS Technology and Privacy Rights

District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington D.C., USA

Secret tracking using GPS may be simple, undetectable and cheap — but appeals courts can’t decide if it’s constitutional.

In 1791, when the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, it certainly seemed specific enough for the needs of the time. The new Americans were tired of colonial powers freely searching and seizing, with general warrants that were as full of holes as Swiss cheese.

By Inside GNSS

November 9, 2010

Goodbye, GPS Wing; Hello, GPS Directorate

The U.S. Air Force will inactivate its GPS Wing at Los Angeles Air Force Base on Wednesday (November 10) and replace it with the Global Positioning Systems Directorate.

Reflecting mostly the taxonomy and naming conventions of military commands and organization, the new designation is expected to bring little change in the new organization’s leadership or scope of responsibilities, although the organization will no longer have headquarters status. Air Force Groups will become Divisions and Squadrons, Branches.

By Inside GNSS

Russia Reveals CDMA Signal Plan as GLONASS Nears Full Operational Capacity

GLONASS Launch on September 2, 2010

With activation of three modernized GLONASS (GLONASS-M) satellites launched on September 2 and plans to put four more space vehicles (SVs) into orbit before the end of this year, the Russian GNSS system will have more than enough spacecraft for an FOC declaration in the not-too-distant future.

By Inside GNSS

November 7, 2010

Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2011

Residenz entrance, familiar to Munich Satellite Navigation Summit attendees.

The 2011 Munich Satellite Navigation Summit will take place from March 1 through 3 in Der Residenz, the palace of the old Bavarian royal family and now home to four museums.

The event features high-level discussions about all of the world’s navigation satellite systems. It is organized by the Institute of Geodesy and Navigation at University FAF Munich.

The technical program begines with a plenary presentation on "GNSS in Balance," followed by a Bavarian State Reception.

By Inside GNSS

November 3, 2010

GPS Outages, Bad Receivers, System Architecture on Agenda for Space-Based PNT Advisory Board

The U.S. Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee (ExCom) has issued a new set of tasks that it wants its advisory board to take up over the next 14 months with topics including civil and commercial GPS receivers that don’t comply with technical specifications, a national PNT architecture plan, and the effects of PNT outages particularly on the nations cyber networks.

By Inside GNSS