satellites/space segment

SMC’s Hamel Receives AFA Award
November 26, 2007

SMC’s Hamel Receives AFA Award

Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel

Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) commander, has received the Air Force Association’s 2007 Gen. Thomas D. White USAF Space Trophy. The award recognizes outstanding contribution to the nation’s progress in aerospace.

Under General Hamel’s leadership, SMC has had 54 successful space launches in a row, a feat unparalleled in military space history, according to SMC. He serves not only as the center’s commander but also as the Air Force

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By Glen Gibbons
Congress Pares GPS III Funds, Slams Air Force Space Acquisition Efforts (updated 11/28/07)
November 25, 2007

Congress Pares GPS III Funds, Slams Air Force Space Acquisition Efforts (updated 11/28/07)

The GPS III modernization program came up short in the 2008 fiscal year (FY08) Department of Defense (DoD) appropriations bill signed into law by President Bush on November 13.

In passing H.R. 3222, Congress reduced the president’s request by $100 million to $487.23 million for the budgetary year ending next October 1.

Military GPS M-code user equipment (MUE) did better, however: gaining $63.2 million on Capitol Hill, over and above the $93.27 proposed in the administration’s budget, for a total of $156.47 million.

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By Glen Gibbons
FREE build-it-yourself model GPS IIR-M from Baseband Technologies
November 13, 2007

FREE build-it-yourself model GPS IIR-M from Baseband Technologies

GPS IIR-M paper model (Baseband Technologies)

The holidays are coming – what can you find for the engineer who has everything? Why not build your own museum-quality paper GPS satellite model at home?

You can do it with a free-downloadable kit, courtesy of Baseband Technologies, Canadian designers of GNSS OEM receivers. All you need are the supplies in the average third-grader’s school desk and two or three hours of free time. The finished product will fit nicely on a corner of your desk.

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By Inside GNSS
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Russia Places 3 GLONASS Satellites in Orbit
October 27, 2007

Russia Places 3 GLONASS Satellites in Orbit

Russia successfully launched three modernized GLONASS (GLONASS-M) satellites from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 26, a day later than planned due to a Kazakh national holiday. The Proton-K rocket, equipped with a Block DM upper stage and carrying three Uragan-M (GLONASS-M No. 18, 19, 20) satellites, lifted off at 11:35 Moscow time. 

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By Glen Gibbons
GLONASS Launch Is Back On for October 25
October 19, 2007

GLONASS Launch Is Back On for October 25

Russia’s GLONASS-M

Investigation into a Proton-M rocket failure in September, which appeared to threaten the schedule for continued rebuilding of the GLONASS constellation, has cleared the launcher and Baikonur facility for renewed activity, including a scheduled October 25 launch of three GLONASS-M satellites.

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By Glen Gibbons
Successful GPS Block IIR-M Spacecraft Launch
October 15, 2007

Successful GPS Block IIR-M Spacecraft Launch

Launch of GPS Block IIR-M satellite, October 17, 2007

A Block IIR-M GPS satellite was launched successfully today (October 17, 2007) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Expected to be set healthy for use in early November 2007, the spacecraft will be designated as PRN15/SVN55, referring to its pseudorandom noise code and space vehicle number, respectively.

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By Glen Gibbons
Lack of Launcher Module Delays Galileo Launch
October 11, 2007

Lack of Launcher Module Delays Galileo Launch

GIOVE-A satellite with Fregat module

Unavailability of an upper stage of the Soyuz launcher will delay launch of the second Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element satellite (GIOVE-B) until at least March 2008. The most recent schedule had called for a late-December launch from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.

Already behind schedule as the result of an electrical short that caused widespread damage to the spacecraft during laboratory tests in summer 2006, the Galileo program’s latest postponement reportedly stems from the lack of a Fregat module. Fregat is the portion of the Russian rocket that releases the spacecraft into its final orbit (shown with GIOVE-A in accompanying ESA photo).

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By Glen Gibbons
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Transport Ministers Leave Galileo Procurement Unresolved
October 9, 2007

Transport Ministers Leave Galileo Procurement Unresolved

The European Transport Council generally reaffirmed its commitment to the Galileo program in an October 2 meeting without resolving some underlying differences of how to finance the system following abandonment of the public-private partnership (PPP) approach earlier this year.

In its first look at the European Commission (EC) plan to complete the system by 2013 under a more traditional public procurement process, the council confirmed its intention “to take an integrated decision on the European GNSS before the end of the year.”

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By Glen Gibbons
Block IIF Satellite Heads for Key Tests
October 6, 2007

Block IIF Satellite Heads for Key Tests

Boeing technicians and first Block IIF satellite

The Boeing Company has successfully assembled and integrated all flight hardware onto the first GPS Block IIF (follow-on generation) satellite. Launch is now scheduled for the second half of 2008.

GPS llF spacecraft will bring new capabilities to the GPS constellation, such as a new encrypted military code, a new civil signal, crosslink enhancements, increased signal power, and longer design life. Boeing is building 12 GPS Block IIF satellites under contract from the GPS Wing at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base.

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By Glen Gibbons
GLONASS has “preliminary approval” to transmit CDMA GLONASS signals at L1, L5
September 26, 2007

GLONASS has “preliminary approval” to transmit CDMA GLONASS signals at L1, L5

GLONASS has gotten “preliminary approval” to add code division multiple access (CDMA) signals to future satellites.

Since its initiation in the early 1980s, the Russian GNSS system has employed frequency division multiple access (FDMA) techniques in which the same code is used for the signals broadcast by the system, with individual spacecraft being distinguished from one another by a specific frequency allocation. Russia would almost certainly continue broadcasting FDMA signals on existing frequencies.

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By Glen Gibbons
USAF evolves GPS architecture with $800 million upgrade to ground control segment
September 15, 2007

USAF evolves GPS architecture with $800 million upgrade to ground control segment

On September 14, Air Force crews at Schriever AFB, Colorado, completed the initial phase of an $800 million upgrade to the GPS operational control segment.

Operators in the 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2SOPS) of the USAF 50th Space Wing migrated control of the GPS satellite constellation and ground monitoring facilities from a 1970s-era mainframe computer to a distributed IT infrastructure with advanced automated features. The 50th Space Wing, through the 2nd SOPS, performs the satellite command and control mission for the Global Positioning System.

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By Inside GNSS
It’s MBOC for common Galileo-GPS civil signal
September 9, 2007

It’s MBOC for common Galileo-GPS civil signal

The United States and the European Union (EU) have agreed to use the multiplexed binary offset carrier (MBOC) for a common GPS-Galileo signal for civilian use. In the future, this will enable combined GNSS receivers to track the GPS and Galileo signals with higher accuracy, even in challenging environments that include multipath, noise, and interference.

These signals will be implemented on the Galileo Open Service and the GPS IIIA new L1 civil signal known as L1C.

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By Inside GNSS
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