Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
And then again, maybe not. . . .
The enhanced Loran-C (eLoran) project, which appeared doomed by plans to eliminate the Loran program) following a House-Senate Conference Committee report on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R. 2892/S. 1298), may have a new lease on life.
By Inside GNSS
The Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) has recognized Dr. Rudy Kalafus for his 25 years of service as Chairman of RTCM Special Committee 104 (SC104) on Differential Global Navigation Satellite System (DGNSS) Service.
By Inside GNSS
Top tower- Starkey Loran Research Photos 2001Enhanced Loran (eLoran), the proposed backup to GPS that has made a career out of surviving efforts to eliminate its Loran-C foundation, now appears to be only two signatures away from extinction — and both appear likely.
A House-Senate conference committee version of the fiscal year 2010 (FY10) appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approved October 7 allows for termination of the Loran-C signal on January 4, 2010.
By Inside GNSS
The National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) is looking for a new director.
This office supports the National Space-Based PNT Executive Committee (ExCom) and Executive Steering Group, established by the 2004 National Security Policy Directive for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing. Mike Shaw, the NCO’s first and only director to date, left earlier this year for a position as director of navigation systems global business development at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Arlington, Virginia.
By Inside GNSS
Figure 2. GNSS spectrum (after China ICG presentation)A new Compass signal and frequency plan introduced at a recent International Committee on GNSS (ICG) working group meeting fills in some of the gaps on China’s current thinking about its GNSS system.
The presentation on the new Compass (Beidou-2) plan came at a July
30–31 workshop of the ICG Working Group A – Compatibility and
Interoperability (WG-A), in Vienna.
"Future Flight Technologies – the Wings of NextGen" is the theme of the Federal Aviation Administration’s 2009 New Technologies Workshop.
Registration and exhibit space are FREE.
The conference will focus on innovations for the transition to the Next Generation Air Transportation System as well as updates on existing programs, technology and new systems now in development.
By Inside GNSS
(Updated 11 a.m. (PDT), includes additional details from the GPS Wing)
A $97.4-million reduction in the GPS program made by the U.S. House of Representatives would affect the modernization program for the operational control segment (OCX), not the GPS III satellite budget as reported earlier.
In adopting the action of its appropriations committee, the full House approved H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense (DoD) Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget, on July 30. The bill was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 3. In its report on the bill, the House committee said it made the cuts because of contract delays in the OCX program.
By Inside GNSS
Comments submitted to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) suggest that the Galileo program is finally nearing a decision on commercial use of specifications for its Open Service (OS), but U.S. officials remain concerned that this nation’s equipment manufacturers not be placed at a competitive disadvantage. Meanwhile, Galileo simulators appear to finally be reaching receiver manufacturers, despite the absence of official approval.
By Inside GNSS
Loran tower – Starkey Loran research photos 2001To say that enhanced Loran (eLoran) has been an on-again off-again program would give short shrift to multiple generations of official ambivalence about the proposed backup for GPS.
The latest chapter began on June 4 when Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) introduced S. 1194, the Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (FY2010/11).
Among other details, the measure directs the Secretary of Transportation to continue the Loran system until a plan has been drawn up and implemented to transition the program to eLoran.
By Inside GNSS
DAGR 2008. Rockwell Collins imageDevelopment and acquisition of military GPS user equipment (MGUE) are taking on new dimensions across the board — institutionally, procedurally, and technologically.
Along the way, the changes could redefine relationships within the Department of Defense (DoD) and between the agency and industry.
At the agency level, a proposal is forthcoming to “stand up” a positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) user equipment joint program office (JPO) that would incorporate UE responsibilities (and budgets) now exercised by the GPS Wing (GPSW).
By Inside GNSS
Two weeks after a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report warned of potential gaps in the GPS satellite constellation, reassurances from Department of Defense (DoD), U.S. Air Force, GPS program officials, and industry are slowly restoring calm to an anxious public.
Coupled with a May 7 congressional hearing (and subsequent media coverage) that fanned the flames, the report described scenarios — for instance a two-year setback in launching the first GPS III spacecraft — that could lead to deterioration in the quality of GPS service due to delays in building new generations of satellites and past program management problems. The news coverage drew primarily on the GAO report and prepared statements presented at the hearing and not on the much more interesting dialog with subcommittee members captured on video or on the assumptions and methodology underlying the constellation analysis.
By Inside GNSS
Mike Shaw, NCO Executive DirectorA June 18 meeting of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee (ExCom) will bring together leaders of the Obama administration in the key interagency setting for GPS issues.
Established under a 2004 National Presidential Security Directive, the ExCom advises and coordinates federal departments and agencies on matters concerning the Global Positioning System and related systems. The deputy secretaries of defense and transportation and co-chair the committee, which includes equivalent-level members from seven other federal agencies.
By Inside GNSS
The president’s proposed Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget would provide more than $1 billion for GPS and related U.S. space-based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) programs.
By Inside GNSS
