satellites/space segment

ESA Signs Galileo IOV Launch, FOC Satellite Contracts

ESA Signs Galileo IOV Launch, FOC Satellite Contracts

René Oosterlinck, ESA director of the Galileo Program and Navigation-related Activities (center), and Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO Arianespace (left), sign the Galileo In-Orbit Validation Launch Services Contract in the ESA Pavilion at the Paris Air Show, Le Bourget. Paul Verhoef, programme manager of EU Satellite Navigation Programs at the European Commission. ESA photo — S. Corvaja, 2009

On June 15, the European Space Agency (ESA) signed contracts for launch services on the Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites as well as two additional contracts for “long lead items” needed to build the full operational capability (FOC) Galileo constellation of satellites.

The first contract, with Arianespace, will provide launch services for the four IOV Galileo satellites that will be placed in orbit by the end of 2010. Two Soyuz rockets, each carrying two Galileo spacecraft, will launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

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By Inside GNSS
Changes in Store for U.S. Military GPS Equipment Development and Acquisition
June 4, 2009

Changes in Store for U.S. Military GPS Equipment Development and Acquisition

DAGR 2008. Rockwell Collins image

Development 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).

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By Inside GNSS
GAO Report on GPS Satellite Constellation Status: The Pushback
May 25, 2009

GAO Report on GPS Satellite Constellation Status: The Pushback

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.

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By Inside GNSS
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First Look: Initial Observations of the GPS L5 Broadcast and L1 Signal Anomaly
May 22, 2009

First Look: Initial Observations of the GPS L5 Broadcast and L1 Signal Anomaly

(Updated May 22, 2009) Leading researchers from Ohio University, Stanford, and the University of Colorado have released their initial observations of the GPS L5 signal broadcast, including an anomaly in SVN49’s L1 signal reported by the GPS Wing’s chief engineer on May 4.

The U.S. Air Force switched on the eagerly awaited, modernized L5 signal on April 10 after the successful launch of the newest GPS Block IIR-M satellite – SVN49 – in March. This was the first broadcast of a GPS signal in a frequency band dedicated solely for civilian use.

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By Inside GNSS
GPS III Passes Preliminary Design Review
May 21, 2009

GPS III Passes Preliminary Design Review

GPS IIIA. Lockheed Martin graphic

The Lockheed Martin team developing the next-generation GPS III satellites has successfully completed a major program milestone, the preliminary design review (PDR) conducted by the U.S. Air Force’s GPS Wing.

Underlining the importance placed on meeting a 2014 first-launch schedule, nearly 150 representatives from the GPS Wing and user communities, including representatives from the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Space Command, the Department of Transportation, and the Federal Aviation Agency participated in the four-day Space Vehicle PDR at Lockheed Martin Space Systems facilities in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

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By Inside GNSS
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GPS SVN49 and L5 Signal: A Success with Problems
May 5, 2009

GPS SVN49 and L5 Signal: A Success with Problems

Block IIR-M satellite. Lockheed Martin photo.

Signal anomalies characterized by the U.S. Air Force as “out of family” transmissions will keep the latest GPS satellite from being declared healthy for months, if ever.

The report on space vehicle number (SVN) 49 by the GPS Wing’s chief engineer, Lt. Col. David Goldstein to the European Navigation Conference in Naples, Italy, on May 4 mixed bad news with glad.

Also known as Block IIR-20(M), the spacecraft carries the demonstration payload for the new civil GPS L5 signal. The March 24 launch probably represented the last chance to meet an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) deadline for securing primary rights to use of the RF band by GPS.

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By Inside GNSS
Obama Lifts Up GPS in Speech to U.S. Scientists
April 28, 2009

Obama Lifts Up GPS in Speech to U.S. Scientists

In his April 27 speech to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) annual meeting, President Barack Obama twice singled out the Global Positioning System as an example of the need for renewing the U.S. commitment to basic scientific research and education.

“The calculations of today’s GPS satellites are based on the equations that Einstein put to paper more than a century ago,” Obama said, having noted that “no one can predict what new applications will be born of basic research. . . .”

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By Inside GNSS
Septentrio Receivers Track L5, Other SVN49 Signals
April 20, 2009

Septentrio Receivers Track L5, Other SVN49 Signals

SVN49 L1 C/A (red) and L5 Signals. Septentrio image.

Septentrio reports success in tracking five signals being transmitted from the modernized GPS Block IIR satellite with the L5 demonstration payload launched on March 24.

Now designated space vehicle number 49 (SVN49), the satellite began broadcasting in the L1 and L2 band on March 28, shortly after the spacecraft reached its quasi-circular middle earth sorbit.

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By Inside GNSS
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