One of 12 magnetograms recorded at Greenwich Observatory during the Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1859
1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)
Nouméa ground station after the flood
A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat
Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV
Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)
“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto
The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder.
Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram
Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST

1. CARTOON FRENZY
Absolutely Everywhere, The World
The Air Force is defending the new GPS ground system, taking a stand against naysayers in Congress and declaring through its actions an intent to stick with the Next Generation Operational Control System program (OCX) — at least for now.
The most public of these actions occurred June 30 when Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James announced OCX would surpass by at least 25 percent the program’s estimated cost. She declared a critical Nunn-McCurdy breach, putting the program on a path to automatic cancellation.
By Dee Ann Divis
Jade Morton, in the front row at the right, with her sisters and grandmother
>>Jade Morton’s Compass Points
Yu — or Jade, in English — Morton is an electrical engineer, a professor at Colorado State University (bound for the University of Colorado Boulder in 2017), and a shining star in the world of GNSS. She left work for eight years to be a full-time mother, then returned to a university professorship and high-level research, where she has been recognized for her work on ionospheric effects on global navigation satellite systems.
By Inside GNSS
Four global navigation satellite systems are scheduled to be fully operational orbiting Earth in the coming years: the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) from the United States, the GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS) from Russia, the Compass/BeiDou-2 System (BDS) from China, and Galileo from Europe. A considerably high number of signals, coming from the satellites of those constellations, will share the radio electric spectrum.
By Inside GNSSJapan’s regional and augmentation positioning system, the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), is a project yet to be developed. While it will become a constellation of seven satellites covering the western Pacific area, only “Michibiki,” the first satellite launched in 2010 for technological validation , is now in orbit.
By Ingo Baumann
Q: How does one compute the noise power to simulate real and complex GNSS signals?
By Inside GNSS
One of 12 magnetograms recorded at Greenwich Observatory during the Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1859
1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)
Nouméa ground station after the flood
A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat
Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV
Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)
“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto
The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder.
Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram
Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST

Electronic Throwaways, Space X Wins, Drones at Sea and Shaking It Up
By Inside GNSSCOMPASS POINTS
Engineering specialties
Performance analysis of different GNSS configurations (multi-frequency multi-constellation) with and without augmentation. Integration of receiver subsystems starting with antenna design, receiver processing, interference and multipath mitigation algorithms, PVT including integrity monitoring, and hybridization using MEMS-based inertial sensors.
GNSS Event that most signified to you that GNSS had "arrived"
By Inside GNSSSo, if everything had gone as planned, we would have a new ground control segment (OCX) operating a new generation of satellites (GPS III) as they launch into an expanded constellation in support of modernized military GPS user equipment (MGUE).
But then the best-laid plans. . . .
By Inside GNSS
Carlo des Dorides, GSA Executive DirectorLast October, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) Administrative Board reelected Carlo des Dorides as executive director of the GSA, giving him a second — and final — four-year term in charge of this key agency responsible for supporting the effective operation, maintenance, and security of Europe’s satellite navigation systems. We met with him recently at the GSA office in Prague to learn how he plans to see out his mandate.
By Peter GutierrezAdvanced military receivers using the sort of modern multi-channel, multi-constellation capabilities already available commercially, could enable the Air Force to focus its anti-jam efforts on the ground, simplifying future GPS satellites and lowering their cost. Moreover, experts told Inside GNSS, the cutting-edge receivers could be deployed years before the anti-jam capability planned for the new GPS III satellites would be fully available.
By Dee Ann Divis
Belabbas with his children, Laila and Lunis.Boubeker Belabbas’ Compass Points
Boubeker Belabbas, an expert in aerospace mechanics and safety-critical GNSS applications, grew up in Bordeaux, a city of wine, and works in Munich, a city of beer. But he started out in the land of mint tea: a small village in the north of Algeria in the region called Kabylia.
By Inside GNSS