NANU Alerts GPS Users to Start of L2C/L5 CNAV Messages

GPS satellites will begin transmitting CNAV messages on the L2C and L5 signals, beginning at 10:30 a.m. PDT next Monday (April 28, 2014).
 
In a Notice Advisory to NAVSTAR Users (NANU), Air Force Space Command announced that it would begin implementing the civil navigation Message Types (MTs) 10 and 11 (with satellite ephemerides), 12 (reduced almanac), 30 (satellite clock data, and corrections for ionospheric and group delay), and 33 (parameters related to correlating coordinated universal time (UTC-USNO) time with GPS system time).
 

At ENC 2014: A GNSS Wake Up Call for Europe

Among the key topics to come out of this year’s European Navigation Conference (ENC 2014) in Rotterdam is how safe — or unsafe — we really are, and who in Europe cares. The answer is, a lot of people care, but almost no one can do anything about it.

Professor David Last, strategic advisor at the General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK & Ireland, made the case before the conference had even started, at the pre-conference “Resilient PNT Forum.”

Wyoming UAS Test Site Plans Unravel in the Face of Military Airspace Limits

Newly enforced limits on using military airspace to test unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are rattling test range managers across the country and appear to have caused at least one operation to drop its plans for an independent test site for unmanned vehicles.  

Republic of Korea Announces New Plan for eLoran system in Wake of GPS Jamming

The Republic of Korea will return next month with a new tender for implementing an eLoran system, driven by North Korean jamming of GPS in the region.

Initial plans to establish an eLoran-based back up faltered due to technical and requirements challenges that held prospective vendors back from bidding on the contracts. Details of the new plan were revealed in a presentation today (April 14, 2014) at a Resilient PNT Forum held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in advance of the European Navigation Conference (ENC 2014).

QZSS’s Day in the Sun at Munich SatNav Summit

The Russians may have taken a rain check, but Asian representatives were out in force at this year’s Munich Satellite Navigation Summit, held last week (March 25–27, 2014). The general message from China, Japan, and India was that they are moving forward quickly with their own GNSS systems, while seeking active cooperation, both technical and commercial, with international partners.

U.S. Air Force Authorizes Lockheed to Finish GPS III SVs 7 & 8

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin more than $245 million in contract options to complete production of its seventh and eighth GPS Block III satellites.

The two space vehicles (SVs 07–08) received initial funding under a February 2013 long-lead material contract for the Air Force's second set of four satellites, GPS III SV 05–08. Similar to this current award announced yesterday (April 1, 2014), the Air Force exercised an option to complete production of SVs 05–06 in December 2013.

FAA Issues Call for UAS Center of Excellence Contractor

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced plans to establish within the next year a Center of Excellence (COE) for its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Research, Engineering, and Development Program.

An FAA notice published last Friday (March 28, 2014) said that the agency will launch a competitive search for a team to lead the initiative as part of the FAA’s effort to integrate UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS). A draft solicitation will be available on or before April 18.

New NovAtel Firmware Enables CORRECT Positioning Combined with TerraStar PPP

NovAtel Inc. has announced that, with the release of its 6.400 firmware, NovAtel CORRECT positioning technology is now available with TerraStar’s precise point positioning (PPP) corrections.