Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
A new consortium has been formed to enable government to more quickly find innovative solutions to space-related technology problems including those involving satellite navigation.
By Dee Ann Divis
The program for the Royal Institute of Navigation’s International Navigation Conference 2018 is now available online, but if you’re at this week’s ION GNSS+ conference in Miami, Fla., you can stop by Booth #516 for additional details.
Scheduled for November 12-15, 2018 at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel, Bristol, UK, INC 2018 — Navigation Challenges and Societal Benefits —is sure to provide attendees numerous benefits.
By Inside GNSS
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States, has chosen Thales to develop and build an operational ground station in the southwest part of the country, at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, to track Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites operating in medium Earth orbit (MEO).
The ground station will receive and process 406 megahertz distress beacon signals from the MEO satellites being tracked, and relay them to the US SARSAT (Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking) program’s Mission Control Center (USMCC), via U.S. government communication links, for validation and distribution to rescue authorities, according to a Thales Alenia Space press release issued on Monday. This ground station will be designated the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest USA Medium-Earth Orbit Local User Terminal (SUSA MEOLUT), and will be an integral part of the MEO-based ground system operated by the USMCC.
SUSA MEOLUT will be working in conjunction with NOAA’s two operational MEOLUTs, located at the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) COMMSTA stations in Honolulu and Miami. It is expected to be an operational part of the NOAA SARSAT system on a 24/7 basis. The MEO system, which provides distress alert and location data for search and rescue (SAR) authorities in near real-time, uses spacecraft and ground facilities to detect and locate signals from the 406 megahertz distress beacons.
By deploying Thales Alenia Space’s powerful and compact MEOLUT Next phased array solution, the United States will benefit from the world’s first spaceborne search and rescue system of this type. Thales Alenia Space, a Joint Venture between Thales (67 %) and Leonardo (33 %), designs, operates and delivers satellite-based systems for governments and institutions, helping them position and connect anyone or anything, everywhere. Since being commissioned in 2016, MEOLUT Next has delivered unrivaled performance, detecting distress signals from more than 5,000 kilometers away, according to Thales. Both France, Europe, Canada and Togo have already ordered Thales Alenia Space’s MEOLUT Next, and several more potential international customers are expected to announce their decisions shortly.
Related Reading: The Cospas-Sarsat MEOSAR System: A Solution to Support ICAO GADSS Autonomous Distress Tracking Recommendation
“We are confident that our solution will meet and exceed NOAA SARSAT’s expectations, and provide decisive help to the UASA region,” said Philippe Blatt, Vice President, Navigation France at Thales Alenia Space, in the press release. “Today, MEOLUT Next is the only solution in the world capable of processing second-generation beacons in real time. Its operational efficiency was recently recognized by Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) for its humanitarian contributions and the European Commission as well as governments of Togo and Canada have already selected this technology.”
This new capability saves lives. On July 2, 2017 at 6:30 a.m., 70 kilometers off the coast of Sardinia, a 12-meter sailboat with three people aboard triggered its Cospas-Sarsat beacon when its rudder broke and its engine failed. Its VHF radio out of range, the sailors quickly realized they were in a critical situation with waves over four meters high and the wind blowing at 40 knots. MEOLUT Next was able to receive and process their distress signals in less than five minutes, providing accurate positioning to authorities. An airplane identified the boat less than two hours after the beacon was triggered and a helicopter airlifted the crew to safety, saving all three lives.
MEOLUT Next
Conventional MEOLUT (Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminal) systems use large parabolic antennas and are limited by how many satellite signals they can receive. Thales Alenia Space’s MEOLUT Next solution is compact, measuring less than six square meters, with the ability to track up to 30 satellites, significantly enhancing the distress beacon detection rate while expanding the coverage zone. Since there are no mechanical components, hardware maintenance costs are low, according to Thales.
If you are interested in innovative products and services in the GEOSPATIAL sector, then you should consider attending INTERGEO October 16-18 in Frankfurt, Germany.
By Inside GNSS
The Topcon Technology Roadshow rolled into Denver, Colorado for three days of technology-driven infrastructure demonstrations and hands-on operations. Co-hosted by GeoShack and Honnen Equipment Company at the Honnen Equipment facility in Commerce City, the event brought together more than 140 owners, project managers and operators from transportation agencies, contractor firms and surveying companies throughout the Denver metropolitan area.
By Inside GNSS
Antenova Ltd, manufacturer of antennas and RF antenna modules for connected devices and the Internet of Things, is now shipping its latest module for tiny positioning devices – the RADIONOVA M20047-1. This is an active antenna module for GNSS applications in the 1559-1609 MHz satellite bands using GPS, GLONASS, Galileo or BeiDou.
By Inside GNSS
At the ESA/JRC International Summer School on GNSS in Austria last month, one of the participants asked us during the evening panel — where they can address any kind of question to the lecturers and experts — What does satellite navigation look like in 50 and in 100 years from now?
By Günter W. Hein
Some good news has been reported and some nice progress has been made by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) this year.
The successful launch of the PSLV-C41 rocket carrying India’s eighth navigation satellite IRNSS-1I from Sriharikota put smiles back on the faces of scientists of the ISRO in April amid tough times as the space agency was struggling to restore the snapped link with its recently launched communication satellite Gsat-6A.
By Stan Goff
Orolia, a leader in Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solutions, today introduced its latest military technology innovation, the SecureFind Combat Rescue Beacon at the 2018 AUSA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
By Inside GNSS
Nominations for ION Fellows and Annual Awards are being accepted through October 15. The ION Annual Award Program is sponsored by The Institute of Navigation (ION) and recognizes individuals making significant contributions or demonstrating outstanding performance relating to the art and science of positioning, navigation and timing.
By Inside GNSS
The recently concluded Arab Institute of Navigation biennial conference in Cairo, “GNSS, the Key to Innovation,” featured a wide variety of presentations of interest to navigators and technologists alike.
Presenters ranged from representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, to those from a transportation company that uses GNSS-enabled tracking while transporting priceless ancient artifacts to the under-construction Grand Egyptian Museum.
By Inside GNSS
According to the European Commission “…GNSS cannot be the sole means of PNT information … for critical applications requiring continuous availability and fail-safe operations.”
Similar realizations in the United States, United, Kingdom, South Korea and elsewhere have led to a revitalization of efforts to examine Alternative Positioning, Navigation and Timing (APNT) systems that could complement and reinforce our exceptionally valuable, yet vulnerable, GNSS signals.
By Dana A. Goward
The Institute of Navigation’s GNSS Software Defined Radio Metadata Standard working group is seeking its second and final public comment on the standard through November 30, 2018.
By Inside GNSS
As space becomes a major topic that the mainstream media is now focusing upon, there are more eyes and dollars attuned to the “how to” monetize these market segments than ever before in the history of the satellite and space industry.
By Inside GNSS
The European Commission (EC) is on track to mandate that smart phones in the European Union (EU) be capable of using signals from the Galileo satellite navigation system as well as other systems including GPS.
The move is part of a broad space strategy launched in October 2016 to strengthen the EU’s space program and maximize its benefits.
By Dee Ann Divis
