Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Russia Channel One TV Coverage of LaunchLaunch of three GLONASS satellites on December 25 has met the terms and schedule of a presidential initiative to have 18 of the Russian GNSS space vehicles (SVs) on orbit and operational by the end of 2007.
By Glen Gibbons
The U.S. Air Force launched the fifth modernized GPS Block II Replenishment (IIR-M) satellite at 3:04 p.m. EST (20:04 UTC) December 20 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, (December 20) aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Air Force controllers set the spacecraft to "healthy" status on January 2, in what is probably a record time of 13 days.
By Glen Gibbons
Liao Xiaohan, Deputy Director-General of High & New Technology Development and Industrialization, MOST China will release details of its Compass (or Beidou 2) program “soon,” including an Interface Control Document (ICD) for the GNSS system’s open civil service and a launch schedule for additional satellites, according to representatives of the China Satellite Navigation Engineering Center speaking at the Shanghai Navigation Forum (NaviForum) in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday (December 6-7).
By Glen Gibbons
SpringerGeosciences has announced release of the latest book by Bernhard Hofmann-Wellenhof: GNSS — Global Navigation Satellite Systems: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo & More. Coauthors are Herbert Lichtenegger and Elmar Wasle.
By Inside GNSS
Russia’s space forces had an easier time of it bringing the latest set of GLONASS-M satellites on line within just over a month after launch.
As of December 6, the GLONASS constellation had 15 operational satellites, two of which are not broadcasting signals during maintenance. The next launch of three modernized GLONASS space vehicles is scheduled for December 25.
By Inside GNSS
On Friday (November 30), the European transport council voted unanimously to adopt a European Commission (EC) financial scheme that would lead to a fully operational constellation in 2013, if the project can stay on schedule.
By Inside GNSS
Lt. Gen. Michael HamelLt. 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
By Glen Gibbons
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.
By Glen Gibbons
In a somewhat surprising development, the U. S. Air Force turned to two new vendors — Northrop Grumman Corporation and Raytheon — in a November 21 announcement of contracts for the Next Generation GPS Control Segment (OCX).
By Glen Gibbons
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.
By Glen Gibbons
Russia’s GLONASS-MInvestigation 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.
By Glen Gibbons
Launch of GPS Block IIR-M satellite, October 17, 2007A 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.
By Glen Gibbons
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.”
By Glen Gibbons
