GPS World

Tag: National Space-Based Positioning Navigation and Timing Advisory Board

  • China threatens U.S. GNSS dominance

    China threatens U.S. GNSS dominance

    Photo:
    Image: Nikada/E+/Getty Images

    A report by CNBC — based on a paper published by Harvard’s’ Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and written by Sarah Sewall — noted a growing concern that China’s BeiDou is technologically superior to GPS and serves much of the population better.

    Experts in the CNBC report explained that BeiDou supports China’s military ambitions, has spurred economic growth in the country, and has increased its diplomatic leverage.

    The first BeiDou satellite was launched in 2000 and served only mainland China. The system now consists of 45 operational satellites with 30 of them being the latest generation BDS-3 satellites.

    Image: Bedou.gov
    Image: Bedou.gov

    In 2020, China launched the last BeiDou satellite, completing the constellation. Since then, the influence of BeiDou has grown, with an estimated 1.1 billion people now using the system.

    One feature in the latest BeiDou satellites is two-way messaging that is mainly available in China and requires special chips that are not widely available in the consumer market. It enables users to send short messages in areas without ground network cell coverage and can be used for search and rescue operations.

    Surveillance fears

    The CNBC report noted the fear that, with its enhancements, the BeiDou system could be used as a surveillance device — as the two-way messaging feature reveals a user’s locations as well as other types of data.

    Additionally, with the growing number of apps for cellphones and an increase in autonomous vehicles that use the BeiDou system, more and more user data is being transmitted.

    The bottom line

    Satellites in the United States’ GPS constellation do not yet have those kinds of features.

    There are 31 operational GPS satellites, 6 of which are GPS III satellites.

    Image: GPS.gov
    Image: GPS.gov

    GPS satellite modernization 

    In 2008 Lockheed Martin beat out Boeing — the manufacturer of older GPS satellites — to build the GPS III satellites, the last of which was delivered in February. GPS III satellites deliver enhanced performance through a variety of improvements, including increased signal protection with improved accuracy.

    GPS III SV07, SV08, SV09 and SV10 (SV stands for “space vehicle”) are awaiting launch at Lockheed Martin’s GPS III processing facility in Waterton, Colorado.

    Lockheed Martin is now working on 22 GPS IIIF satellites — contracted in 2018 — that will feature more advanced capabilities. These satellites are expected to launch in 2026.

    The U.S. Space Force exercised its second contract option valued at approximately $737 million for the procurement of three additional GPS IIIF space vehicles from Lockheed Martin on Oct. 22, 2021. This contract option is for GPS IIIF satellites 15, 16 and 17 (SV15-17).

    The entire fleet of GPS satellites is expected to be modernized in 2032 or 2033. However, for now, President Biden’s National Space-Based Positioning Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board recognizes the need for a resilient national PNT architecture and acknowledges that BeiDou is technologically superior to GPS.

  • Magnetic Navigation 2022 – Freedom from GNSS? 

    Magnetic Navigation 2022 – Freedom from GNSS? 

    Headshot: Dana Goward
    Dana Goward, President, Resilient PNT Foundation

    In a world where GPS and other GNSS signals can be easily denied or, worse, spoofed, interest in other forms of navigation has rebounded.

    Imagine being able to locate yourself within a couple of centimeters with just your cellphone – deep underground. Or inside a metal structure. Or underwater (assuming you can keep your equipment dry).  

    No satellite signals, no Wi-Fi ranging, no inertial system. Just the ambient magnetic flux that constantly surrounds us all. Everywhere. 

    That’s the vision AstraNav Vice President Martin Neill offered to the President’s National Space-based, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board in May.

    Animals have used the Earth’s magnetic field to find their way for millions of years. People have been using magnetic compasses for over a thousand. Until the advent of GPS, magnetic compasses were foundational tools for aircraft and ship navigation, especially when out of sight of easily recognized landmarks.  

    Then GPS came along, and almost everyone’s eyes turned to space. 

    But in a world where GPS and other GNSS signals can be easily denied or, worse, spoofed, interest in other forms of navigation has rebounded. And because GPS helped demonstrate the efficiencies geospatial services provide, users also want those services to be more resilient and to work in places signals from space just can’t reach. 

    According to Neill, “Our solution builds upon inexpensive magnetometers, smartphones, machine learning, edge computing, and some incredibly complex math to convert raw magnetic data into a source of ultra-precise location data. These relatively recent tech developments allow us to bring things together for a major update to a centuries-old way of navigation and positioning.” 

    Describing AstraNav as a software tech company, Neill said that the company’s system is “hardware agnostic.” It can work on “just about anything that has a magnetometer. No additional hardware or external connectivity is required, and we can run on any existing operating system.”  

    Image: Credit: Petrovich9/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
    Image: Credit: Petrovich9/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

    The company has partners in retail, automotive and telecom validating the technology. They have also been working with a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) combatant commander to demonstrate the product, as well as Virginia Tech and its National Security Institute (VTNSI.)  “This is not a case of ‘here’s an idea that we hope will materialize,” said Neill. Describing two real-world trials and use cases to the board, he said, “This technology is a reality, and we’re doing it.”  

    Most previous magnetic navigation efforts relied upon relatively low-resolution maps. An airplane could find its way safely across the ocean using the maps that were available and likely end up within a mile or two of an airport. Much higher resolution maps built through surveys and artificial intelligence are critical to AstraNav’s centimeter-level accuracy with systems that continue to learn on their own. 

    Intellectual property is AstraNav’s biggest asset. “We have multiple patents filed and pending,” said Neill. “Our IP is what allows us to sense and analyze magnetic fields so finely, develop maps, and make use of very low-cost magnetometers, such as the ones in cell phones.” 

    Several people at the advisory board presentation expressed surprise that they had not heard of the company and this capability before. “We have been busy getting established as a company, supporting our first commercial clients, and doing demonstrations for various folks within DOD,” Neill explained.  “This presentation is by way of our coming out party. We are very eager to become better known and are looking forward to explaining our capabilities one-on-one with potential users.” 

    Citing an abundance of proprietary material, Neill was unwilling to discuss a lot of technical detail at the public meeting. His short presentation, he said, was to raise awareness and stimulate interest.  

    The number of those in attendance who after the presentation said they were eager to learn more showed that he was successful. 

     Dana A. Goward is President of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation 

  • GPS Innovation Alliance celebrates NASA’s 60th anniversary

    GPS Innovation Alliance celebrates NASA’s 60th anniversary

    Association recognizes key role the agency has played in furthering GPS.

    GPSIA logoThe GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA), an organization dedicated to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, commends NASA — the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration — on its momentous 60th anniversary. GPSIA celebrates the occasion by recognizing the vital role NASA has played in furthering and facilitating the growth of GPS around the world.

    NASA has long been an integral supporter of GPS technologies, from its origins in the first space shuttle program, to the launch of the International Space Station (ISS), to the recent announcement of plans to develop an artificial intelligence-based GPS for space.

    Throughout its history, NASA has played a critical role in the success of expanding GPS systems. NASA manages the Navigator GPS receiver, developed by its Goddard Space Flight Center, which has pushed GPS satellites out of lower earth orbit and beyond to enable high altitude applications and track weaker and more rural GPS signals with increased accuracy.

    The Global Differential GPS System (GDGPS), a network of more than 350 GPS monitoring stations from 200 contributing organizations in 80 countries developed and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, provides an unparalleled combination of real time positioning accuracy and availability and acts as the largest network providing global, multiply-redundant, real time coverage of all GPS satellites at all times.

    “GPS contributes immeasurable value to our economy and is used in almost every industry sector,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “It is crucial for our way of life on Earth — the way we communicate, navigate, conduct banking transactions, and so much more rely on our GPS systems. As NASA looks to its future endeavors in exploration and discovery, GPS will remain a cornerstone of technology to accomplish its missions. NASA looks forward to its continued work with the GPS Alliance.”

    NASA 60th anniversary logoWith the establishment of the National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing in 2004 and other governing bodies since, NASA has also acted as a thought leader on policy trends in the field, advising on and advocating for protections of GPS , one of the world’s most important and ubiquitous public resources.

    “The alliance, on behalf of its members and the GNSS industry, congratulates NASA on six decades of cutting-edge innovation and wishes the agency continued success for many decades to come,” said J. David Grossman, executive director of the GPS Innovation Alliance. “As one of the most recognizable technologies in the world, GPS supports navigation, public safety, financial transactions and utilities and varied industries worldwide. We applaud NASA for its unwavering commitment to scientific innovation and to GPS around the globe, now and in the future.”

    The GPS Innovation Alliance recognizes the ever increasing importance of GPS and other GNSS technologies to the global economy and infrastructure and is firmly committed to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. The GPS Innovation Alliance seeks to protect, promote and enhance the use of GPS.

  • PNT Board to discuss spectrum issues in public teleconference

    The National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board (PNT Board) will take part in a public teleconference on spectrum issues on Aug. 6.

    The meeting will be held via teleconference and WebEx. The teleconference will take place Monday, August 6, from, 12-4 p.m. Eastern Time.

    This meeting will be open to the public telephonically and by WebEx. Any interested person can call the toll-free (in the U.S.) conference-call number at 1–844–467–4685 or the local toll number at 1–720–259–7012 using passcode: 106724 to participate in the meeting by telephone.

    The WebEx link is https://nasa.webex.com/, the meeting number is 995 034 805, and the password is uuU7bDX* (case sensitive).

    This meeting was agreed to at the 21st session of the National Space-Based PNT Advisory Board, held May 16–17 in Baltimore. The public can follow the discussions by dial-in or the web link provided.

    The agenda includes the following topics:

    • Finalize and approve the National Space-Based PNT Advisory Board topics paper
    • Finalize and approve the National Space-Based PNT Advisory Board Memorandum on Spectrum Issues to the National Space-Based PNT Executive Committee, Carol J. Hamilton, acting advisory committee management officer, NASA.

    The full announcement can be viewed on the Federal Register.