policy

Officials Delay First GNSS Authorization Request; Light-Squared Tries to Leverage Issue
July 20, 2015

Officials Delay First GNSS Authorization Request; Light-Squared Tries to Leverage Issue

The U.S. stance on satellite navigation has long supported international cooperation and a degree of interoperability. In 2010 the Obama administration even adopted a space policy that said foreign satnav services could be used “to augment and strengthen the resiliency of GPS.”

That was easier in the abstract, however, when the only fully functional GNSS was GPS. Now, with other GNSS services coming online, American officials want to think things through again.

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By Dee Ann Divis
ESA and EC at Odds (Again) over Space Governance

ESA and EC at Odds (Again) over Space Governance

At the European Economic and Social Committee’s Space & Society Conference, from left, Daniel Calleja Crespo, director general of European Commission’s DG Growth; EESC Space and Society Project Coordinator Edgardo Maria Iozia, and Giulio Bartolani di Montauto, European Space Agency’s Brussels office.

Reporting from Brussels last year, we explained that the then–brand new EU GNSS Regulation had effectively put to bed years of wrangling over who does what in Europe’s GNSS programs. But the issue reared its head again in Brussels recently, in a highly charged discussion hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

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By Peter Gutierrez
ICG-10: 10th Meeting of the International Committee on GNSS
July 8, 2015

ICG-10: 10th Meeting of the International Committee on GNSS

Aerial view of Boulder in October

The tenth meeting of the International Committee on GNSS (ICG) will take place in Boulder, Colorado from November 1 through 6 2015. It will be hosted by the United States and organized by University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) on behalf of the U.S. State Department.

It will take place at UCAR headquarters on the Center Green Campus in Boulder.

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By Inside GNSS
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Still Not a Thing, Part 2
May 26, 2015

Still Not a Thing, Part 2

One of the first feature articles I wrote as a newly minted GNSS magazine editor 26 years ago was about an advanced rail traffic management system based on GPS that Burlington Northern, with the help of Rockwell Collins, had designed and implemented.

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By Inside GNSS
Flying Blind
March 20, 2015

Flying Blind

It’s 10 p.m. somewhere over the vast oceans that comprise three-quarters of the Earth’s surface. Do you know where your airplane is?

Well, you could, but maybe you don’t.

The anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 came and went in March with the fate of the Boeing 777 still unknown.

It didn’t have to happen.

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By Inside GNSS
Seriously Seeking a Galileo Service Operator
March 14, 2015

Seriously Seeking a Galileo Service Operator

Carlo des Dorides, El?bieta Bie?kowska

Last January, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) announced a new invitation to tender for the role of Galileo service operator (GSOp). Speaking at the recent EU Space Policy Conference in Brussels, GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides called it the largest contract ever to be awarded under the Galileo program.

“It will shape the future of Galileo,” he said.

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By Peter Gutierrez
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The Party Crashers
January 18, 2015

The Party Crashers

These days getting the United States, Russia, China, and Europe to agree on a common policy seems to be an increasingly rare event.

That’s why the long-standing comity among system operators in the GNSS sphere is particularly notable and welcome. “Interoperable and compatible” is the first principle espoused by the four nations under the aegis of the International Committee on GNSS.

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By Dee Ann Divis
FCC Raises Questions about U.S. Access to Non-GPS GNSS
January 16, 2015

FCC Raises Questions about U.S. Access to Non-GPS GNSS

No reality show contestant ever neared the finish line without the producers serving up another challenge. And so it is for would-be multi-GNSS users in the United States.

After dodging budget cuts, thwarting other teams’ attempts to grab critical frequencies, and dealing with jamming and technical problems, members of the U.S. GNSS community were thrown another curve late last year when they learned that signals from GLONASS and other international constellations must be authorized for use in the United States.

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By Dee Ann Divis
EU and Russia: Lost in Space?
November 17, 2014

EU and Russia: Lost in Space?

Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis has turned much of public opinion in the West against that country, in particular souring the relationship between the European Union (EU) and Russia. And, while the ceasefire signed in September technically is still in force, the EU-Russia rift is far from smoothed over.

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By Peter Gutierrez
New Leaders at the GPS Helm
July 21, 2014

New Leaders at the GPS Helm

Washington, D.C., has a peculiarity of seasons. While most of the world marks the shifts between winter and spring, summer and autumn, the politicos on the streets of the U.S. capital count the passage of time in two-year increments.

New operatives and appointees flock to the centers of power in the early days of each administration and the opening of each Congress, then migrate to friendlier climes as congressional elections loom and the administration winds down — as it is now.

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By Dee Ann Divis
GPS Modernization Stalls
March 23, 2014

GPS Modernization Stalls

With the optimism of college-bound seniors touring the Ivy League, GPS managers have been weighing options to dramatically change the GPS constellation. Now, after studying the costs, considering the benefits, and assessing the funding climate, officials have made the starkly fiscal decision to stick close to home and take a few extra years to finish. 

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By Dee Ann Divis
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