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.

Senator Franken Re-Introduces Location Privacy Bill; GAO Report Raises Concerns for In-Car Apps

Less than 90 days after government watchdogs reported drivers are not being clearly informed about privacy risks posed by vehicle-location data, the head of the U.S. Senate’s privacy committee announced legislation to give consumers more control over how information about their whereabouts is collected and used.

FAA Rules Out Use of Military Airspace for UAV Tests

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) are enforcing limitations on who can use military airspace, a move that will curtail the number of possible places researchers can fly tests with unmanned aircraft.

ESNC 2014 GNSS Innovation Competition Launches at ENC 2014

The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) 2014 will officially kick off on April 15 at the European Navigation Conference (ENC) in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, but the 11th round of the annual event opens Tuesday (April 1).

Launched by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen in 2004 with three partner regions, the ESNC has grown into a network of GNSS innovation and expertise with more than 20 regions taking part worldwide. Since 2004, the ESNC has received almost 2,400 submissions from 4,263 teams and named 204 award winners.