Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
FAA graphicGNSS manufacturer NovAtel Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has received a new contract from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop the next-generation GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) reference receiver (the “GIII” receiver). The three-year contract is worth up to US$9.7million.
By Inside GNSS
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, 2009On 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.
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
Applanix
has introduced the POSTrack 410 flight management and direct
georeferencing system designed for use with the latest generation of
medium-format airborne digital photogrammetric camera.
The POSTrack 410 incorporates Applanix’s POS AV GNSS-inertial navigation
system (INS) and POSPac Mobile Mapping Suite (MMS) office software,
featuring the IN-Fusion technology and SmartBase module. This system
can process both GPS and GLONASS signals as well as those from
satellite-based augmentation systems.
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
Pacific Crest Corporation has appointed GPS/GNSS industry veteran Don Speedy to head business development and sales for North America. With more than nine years of successful experience in business development and OEM GNSS, geographic information systems (GIS) and survey sales, Speedy will be responsible for driving strategic partnerships in OEM GNSS and data link communications while maintaining regional relationships.
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
GPS IIIA. Lockheed Martin graphicThe 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.
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
As if a puzzling signal anomaly on the latest GPS Block IIR-M satellite and continued struggles in the long-delayed Block IIF schedule hadn’t created enough pressure, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report sketches dire prospects for the GPS program.
By Inside GNSS
The solar wind plays havoc with GNSS ground and space segments – destroying electrical transformers and the electronic systems on satellites.
In fact, space weather is the single largest contributor to single-frequency GPS errors and also to differential GPS.2. And right now, we have only three years until the next Solar Max.
By Inside GNSS
Brad AndersonRosum Corporation, the Mountain View, California–based supplier of timing and positioning technology that combines GPS and broadcast television signals, has named Brad Anderson as the company’s new chief executive officer.
By Inside GNSS
