GPS Civil Funding Request Slashed

With just more than four months to go in the 2013 fiscal year, sequestration and furloughs are taking a bite out of key research and the work of the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) — the government nexus for GPS-related policy matters.

The NCO is an interagency organization, explained its director, Jan Brecht-Clark in an emailed response; so, “each individual staff member is subject to furloughs implemented by their home agency as a result of sequestration.”

China Conference Highlights Plans for BeiDou in International Marketplace

The fourth China Satellite Navigation Conference (CSNC 2013) wound up its three-day run on Friday (May 17, 2013) in Wuhan — by most measures a clear success for an event that has become the nation’s leading GNSS forum.

Well more than 2,000 attendees had their choice of 627 technical papers spread across a broad array of topics in 12 session tracks under the conference theme: BeiDou Application — Opportunities and Challenges.”

ESA Adds System Time Offset to Galileo Navigation Message

The four Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites now on orbit have begun broadcasting the “offset” between the GPS and Galileo system time, accurate to a few billionths of a second, according to the European Space Agency.

With satellite navigation based around the highly accurate measurement of signal travel times, both Galileo and GPS have their own internal reference time systems used to synchronize all system clocks, including those in the ground segment, on satellites, and in receivers.

Fourth GPS IIF Satellite Launched

The fourth GPS Block IIF satellite, space vehicle number (SVN) 66, was launched successfully today (May 15, 2013) on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 5:38 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

It was the first time that an Atlas V had been used to launch a GPS spacecraft.

European Commission to Host Workshop on Galileo and EGNOS Apps

The European Commission (EC) Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry will hold a workshop in Brussels, Belgium, on June 4 to address applications of the European Union satellite navigation programs, Galileo and EGNOS.

The first part of the workshop will focus on the past and future activities of the EC aiming to maximize and ensure the market uptake of European GNSS downstream applications.

White House Moves to Harden Infrastructure against GPS Disruption

System engineers across the country may soon be planning, in some cases perhaps for the first time, what they would do if they could not use the GPS service.

The effort is part of an expanded White House initiative to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure. Alhough infrastructure protection programs have been under way for some time, they did not necessarily address GPS vulnerabilities explicitly.

BeiDou to Restart Satellite Launches Next Year, Shift B1 Signal Frequency after 2016

China will begin launching BeiDou-2 satellites again in 2013 as it begins its test program for the third generation of the nation’s GNSS program.

After launching 16 satellites since 2007 (including six last year) to establish the current regional constellation with 14 operation satellites and publishing an official interface control document December 27, China called a halt to further launches to evaluate the performance of the system and complete a development plan for the system.

Defense Department CIO Teresa Takai Gets Positioning, Navigation and Timing Brief

A Department of Defense Directive (DoDD 5144.02) issued April 22 clarifies the positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) responsibilities for Teresa Takai, the assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration (NII) and the DoD’s chief information officer (CIO).

NASA Successfully Launches Three Smartphone Satellites

ET may have an improved method to phone home and satellite operators, a new way to position and control satellites — smartphones in space.

Galileo Conversation: Regulation, Budget, Markets, and International Relations

Paul Flament is head of the European Commission’s Satellite Navigation Unit. His primary job, essentially, is to manage the Galileo program of the European Union (EU). With four operational satellites now in orbit and an ambitious schedule to set in place a constellation of 26 by 2015, Flament sat down with Inside GNSS to talk about a number of pressing issues that could affect the future of Galileo.

Flament first addressed the EU GNSS Regulation, the much-anticipated document that sets out just who will do what in the future Galileo program.