EC Liberates Galileo ICD Signal Specification

Today’s (April 13) release of an updated “Galileo Open Service Signal-In-Space Interface Control Document” (OS SIS ICD) freed the key specification document in two senses of the word: receiver manufacturers, application developers and service providers may now use the ICD as an official — not draft — guide to their work, and they may do so at no cost

The t’s have been crossed and the i’s dotted to the satisfaction of lawyers and politicians — and the relief of designers and system integrators eager to begin work on Galileo-capable products without fear of having substantive changes in the specifications and legal or financial difficulties for moving ahead.

FAA Predicts Erosion of GPS WAAS Service Due to Intelsat GEO Failure

[updated April 13] Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials say that loss of control over an Intelsat geostationary (GEO) carrying a GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) transponder could subject users in the National Air Space (NAS) to temporary outages for the rest of this year, beginning within the next two to four weeks as the GEO drifts out of a useable orbit.

Intelsat S.A. announced the anomaly in Galaxy 15 (G-15) on April 8. Although the communications services provided by G-15, located at 133 degrees west longitude (WL), have not been affected, according to Intelsat, the satellite apparently is not responding to commands by controllers. The anomalous condition began on April 3, according to the FAA.

The Luxembourg-based Intelsat is moving an older spacecraft (G-12) that serves as a backup for G-15 from its location at 123 degrees WL. However, G-12 does not have an L-band transponder, which is needed for WAAS transmissions.

Canada to Decommission DGPS System

The Canada-wide DGPS Service (CDGPS), a free GNSS augmentation system initiated by the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG) in 2003, will be decommissioned by March 31, 2011, according to Gary Sawayama, the system’s general manager.

The CDGPS L-band broadcast has been carried by SkyTerra Communications Inc.’s MSAT communications satellites, which are expected to be replaced this year by the next-generation SkyTerra satellites. Significant new investment in infrastructural changes would be required to migrate to a new communication satellite.

GNSS Opportunities Help Drive UK to Set Up National Space Agency

(This article first appeared in the March 31 Inside GNSS SIGNALS eNewsletter)

Driven in part by a prestigious Space Innovation and Growth Strategy (Space IGS) report suggesting that the nation has lost both the best industrial work and the ability to influence programs such as Galileo, the United Kingdom will establish a new national space agency on April 1.

U.S. Invites Comments for Easing GPS SVN49 Signal Anomaly

(This article first appeared in the March 31 Inside GNSS SIGNALS eNewsletter)

The GPS Wing is in the middle of a yearlong process designed to sort out the trade-offs among a set of at least nine options that may be undertaken to reduce the effects of a signal anomaly on the GPS satellite known as SVN49.

In a March 26 teleconference, the first of two scheduled to discuss the options, Lt. Col. James Lake, the wing’s deputy chief engineer, emphasized that some of the options could well improve the performance of some receivers while decreasing that of others.

He underlined the Air Force's concern that receivers that don't conform to the specification for GPS space segment/navigation user interfaces (IS-GPS-200) "greatly complicate the issue."

National Inventors Hall of Fame 2010 Inductees Include TIMATION Developer

Listen to TIMATION II, recorded September 30, 1969 on 137.380 MHz in AM/FM by Mike D. Kenny*

Roger Easton, who led development of the TIMATION system, one of the forerunner systems to GPS, was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame today (March 31).

European GNSS Supervisory Authority Launches EGNOS Portal

The European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), on behalf of the European Commission, has launched an Internet portal for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) designed to help developers and entrepreneurs vying for a slice of the emerging satellite navigation market.

The European counterpart to the U.S. GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), EGNOS is a satellite-based augmentation system that provides real-time differential corrections and integrity information about GPS operations.

Russians Bring Latest Trio of GLONASS Satellites On Line

Three GLONASS-M satellites launched March 2 began transmitting healthy navigation messages today (March 28).

The Russian GNSS operational constellation now includes 23 spacecraft, including two spares in orbital plane III, slots 22 and 23, as well as GLONASS space vehicle 716, which remains in maintenance status with a malfunctioning signal generator.

DoT Seeks Help from Receiver Manufacturers to Decide on GPS SVN49 Mitigation

[Updated March 27] The first of two  teleconferences hosted by the GPS Wing underlined the U.S. Air Force's desire to gain greater participation by manufacturers of user equipment in sorting out the options for mitigating the effects of a signal anomaly on the GPS satellite known as SVN49.

The March 26 teleconference, held on the same day as publication of a notice in the Federal Register inviting public comment on nine possible options for dealing with the anomaly, drew only a handful of participants. But the U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), which issued the invitation, and the GPS Wing, which has the lead in implementing an eventual decision, hope to see further industry participation in written comments and a second teleconference planned for April 30.

GPS Wing Transition Set

The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, has established the schedule for the transition of command at the GPS Wing.

Incoming commander Col. Bernard Gruber will assume command on July 30. Outgoing commander Col. David Madden will retire from the Air Force in June and take up new responsibilities at SMC as a civilian, assuming command of the Military Satellite Communications Wing on July 19.