Boeing Declines to Bid on GPS III

One, and perhaps two, of the three firms most likely to compete for a contract to build the next tranche of GPS III satellites will no longer pursue the deal.

Boeing declined to bid on the contract to build the 22 new spacecraft, a multi-year effort estimated to be worth as much at $10 billion.

"Boeing did not submit a proposal in response to the RFP (request for proposals)," said a company spokesman, "as the RFP emphasized mature production to current GPS requirements and did not value lower cost, payload performance or flexibility."

Ligado Decision May Be At Hand

The federal government is rumored to be nearing a decision about Ligado Networks’ request to repurpose its satellite frequencies to also support a ground-based telecom network. Those frequencies neighbor the band used by GPS. Testing done both several years ago and more recently has shown such a system could seriously interfere with GPS receivers.

AUVSI XPONENTIAL to Showcase STEM Education and Workforce Development

AUVSI XPONENTIAL’s large trade show that brings together more than 8,500 unmanned systems industry leaders and forward-thinking users from the defense and commercial sectors to learn the latest on public policy, business solutions, and technology applications, will showcase dynamic programming to support STEM education and growing a future workforce. XPONENTIAL 2018 will take place at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver from April 30 to May 3, and Inside GNSS and Inside Unmanned Systems will be on hand.

GSA, Joint Research Centre Test Automotive eCall Devices Using Spirent GNSS Simulators

Spirent’s GNSS simulators are being used by the European GNSS Agency (GSA) to help verify the eCall life-saving system ahead of its launch.

Spirent Communications, a provider of Galileo, GPS and other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) testing solutions, today announced it is working with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to help implement the eCall system, which is required in new cars from April 2018.

Lockheed Martin’s Satellite Factory of the Future Progressing Rapidly

Last summer preliminary construction got underway on Lockheed Martin’s new facility near Denver that will produce next-generation satellites. Now, the foundation for the company’s satellite production factory of the future has been completed.

The Gateway Center construction is making rapid progress and is on track for its completion in 2020, according to Lockheed Martin. The project recently reached a significant milestone when the construction team began installing vertical structural steel.

Final FY18 Budget Boosts GPS Back-up and Receiver Work

When the wrangling finally ended and the funding bill for fiscal year 2018 was finally signed on March 23, the GPS program found itself with an unexpected plus-up of nearly $90 million to support both a new back-up system and work on military GPS receivers.
 

ESA/JRC International Summer School on GNSS 2018 Slated for July

The ESA/JRC International Summer School on GNSS is hosted this year by Austria from July 16-27, 2018 in Loipersdorf, Austria. It is in cooperation with Stanford University in the United States, the Institut Supérieur de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace ISAE-SUPAERO in Toulouse, France, Graz University of Technology in Austria and the University FAF Munich in Germany.