Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Orolia Defense & Security has received security approval from SMC Production Corps (Space and Missile Command’s Production Corps, located at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, California) for its BroadSim MNSA (Modernized Navstar Security Algorithm), a software-defined GNSS simulator.
By Inside GNSS
The new GPS Military-Code (M-Code) Early Use (MCEU) hardware and software upgrade successfully took place on July 27 at the GPS Operational Control System (OCS) at the Master Control Station at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado and Alternate Master Control Stations at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
By Inside GNSS
Microchip Technology’s new time and frequency server with an embedded M-Code GPS receiver gives protection to military communication systems, radar and networks from the threats associated with intentional GPS jamming and spoofing, as well as cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure.
By Inside GNSS
Hackers exposed another vulnerable chink in U.S. national infrastructure over the weekend, in an attack on GPS manufacturer Garmin that began late Thursday, July 23. Although the cybersecurity strike, apparently aimed at extorting a ransom, did not explicitly include the GPS signal, it disabled two large GPS user communities: general aviation (private pilots and some larger commercial flight operators) and fitness enthusiasts. Both found their Garmin devices and apps unresponsive.
By Inside GNSS
A new magnetic anomaly navigation technique (MAGNAV), researched by the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), will get its wings tested aboard F-16 fightercraft this September. In an effort seeking alternatives to GPS and GNSS, MAGNAV sensors and software will be flown on Air Force Test Pilots School (AFTPS) F-16s over a test range adjacent to Edwards Air Force Base in Nevada.
By Inside GNSS
“Ligado’s planned usage will likely harm military capabilities, particularly for the U.S. Space Force, and have major impact on the national economy,” two ranking Senators and a Representative wrote. The timing could not be worse, they said to allow what “is fundamentally a bad deal for America’s national and economic security.”
By Dee Ann Divis
The U.S. Air Force 2nd Space Operations Squadron has put the last operational GPS IIA satellite, SVN 34, into disposal cycle for April 13 to 20. This is effectively end of life, or space hospice if you will, for a satellite that has outlived its 7.5 year design span by 19 years.
The rite of passage brings to a close a 26.5-year era in which the IIA generation carried the gold standard of positioning 20,200 km (12,550 miles) above the Earth, circling the globe twice a day.
Nineteen Block IIA satellites, slightly improved versions of the Block II series (the first full scale operational GPS satellites), were launched from November 26, 1990 until November 6, 1997. The satellites were built by Boeing, formerly Rockwell Corporation. They broadcast the L1 C/A signal for civil users and the L1/L2 P(Y) signals for military users.
SVN-34, the last of its generation, was removed from service October 9, 2019 but kept on as part of the constellation as a decommissioned, on-orbit spare until April 13.
In the disposal process, “We push the satellite vehicle to a higher, less congested, ‘disposal orbit’ to eliminate the probability of collision with other active satellites,” said Capt. Angela Tomasek, 2SOPS GPS mission engineering and analysis flight commander. “[Then,] the vehicle is put into a safe configuration by depleting the leftover fuel and battery life and shutting off the satellite vehicle transmitters so no one else can access the satellite in the future.”
“As we continue to manage the influx of GPS III and maintaining other vehicles in a residual status, we have to be cognizant of effective risk management,” Tomasek continued. “As SVN-34 continued to age, we had to manage its aging components and likelihood of having a critical malfunction. We are at a stage where we are confident in the robustness of the overall GPS constellation to remove the last remaining IIA vehicle.”
Once SVN-34 arrives in its final orbit, 2 SOPS will hand over full tracking responsibility to the 18th Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg AFB, California, where it will be treated and catalogued like every other space object, on April 20.
“This disposal marks the end of an era in GPS history,” said Lt. Col. Stephen Toth, 2nd SOPS commander. “There are senior leaders and long-time contractors [who] launched and operated the IIA satellites at the beginning of their careers [who] are now here to see it end. It is an opportunity to reflect on the legacy and heritage of 2 SOPS and GPS to see how far we have come.”
By Inside GNSS
Thirteen agencies responsible for much if not most of the nation’s military, civil, security and economic activity say Ligado Networks’ plan to use satellite frequencies for 5G communications would interfere with GPS users in general and DOD use in particular.
By Dee Ann Divis
JNC 2020, the largest U.S. military Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) and GPS conference, has been rescheduled for September 8–11, 2020 at the same two locations near Cincinnati, Ohio.
By Inside GNSS
The 2020 Space Symposium has been rescheduled for October 31—November 2 this year, to be held as usual at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. GPS in particular and GNSS in general always form an important part of the program. The annual assembly gathers leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs from the civil, commercial, military, research, and international sectors of the world’s space community.
By Inside GNSS
When the White House submits its budget request for the Department of Defense to Congress every year, that is not the final word. The different military services also send Congress their unfunded priority lists, which detail the projects the White House chose to forego but, the services hope, Congress will add back in. This year several of those priorities are GPS-related.
By Dee Ann Divis
The White House wants to maintain the pattern of steady investment in the GPS program though it appears the administration has decided to go more slowly on deployment of the new GPS III Follow-on (GPS IIIF) satellites.
By Dee Ann Divis
The third next-generation GPS III satellite arrived in Florida on February 5, destined for an expected April launch.
By Inside GNSS
Echo Ridge LLC of Sterling, Virginia has been working with the Air Force Research Laboratory Center for Rapid Innovation to develop a way to determine position from non-GPS satellite signals in different frequency bands.
By Inside GNSS
The GPS III Contingency Operations Program (COps) successfully connected with the first GPS III satellite on orbit on October 21. The Air Force can now operationally command and control the powerful new GPS III satellites
By Inside GNSS
