As part of European project MEDUSA coordinated by Telespazio (Finmeccanica/Thales), a workshop will be held in Tunis on Dec. 17 with stakeholders in civil aviation to promote the use of European satellite navigation systems in Libya, specifically EGNOS.
MEDUSA (Mediterranean follow-up for EGNOS Adoption) is a project funded by the European Commission as part of Euromed program GNSS with the objective of promoting the use of European satellite navigation services (E-GNSS), starting from EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) ahead of Galileo, in the Euromed area.
MEDUSA assists and prepares countries in the area (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia) in the adoption process of E-GNSS services, mainly in aviation as well as in other transportation sectors. To this end, MEDUSA implements a ”program of assistance actions” in countries from the area to transfer abilities, create technological capacities and share good practices.
Moreover, MEDUSA has created an operational and cooperation structure, called GEMCO (Galileo EuroMEd Cooperation Office), with a long-term working plan providing for the participation at a regional level of all beneficiary countries.
Located in Tunis, GEMCO acts as a reference point and catalyzer for all Euromed countries and towards Europe. Through GEMCO, MEDUSA favors initiatives connected to E-GNSS in the Euromed region, and contributes to the implementation of assistance actions of the project like national and regional workshops, training sessions, and days dedicated to studying.
GEMCO will host the MEDUSA meeting with stakeholders of Libya’s civil aviation to analyze the country’s needs, identify priorities and help define a strategic vision in the short, medium and long-term in relation to the possible operative introduction of the use of EGNOS. Libya, which has repeatedly shown interest in the project and EGNOS (whose perspective of availability of coverage of respective service is provided for in the short and medium-term), represents an opportunity for EGNOS mainly in the aviation and helicopter sectors.
Bridge of the Galatea, a GLA vessel that carries a eLoran receiver and conducted tests of the new system. Photo: GLA
Back-up to Vulnerable GPS Signals Required for Busy Shipping Lanes
The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) of the UK and Ireland announced October 31 the initial operational capability of UK maritime eLoran. Seven differential reference stations now provide additional position, navigation, and timing (PNT) information via low-frequency pulses to ships fitted with eLoran receivers. The service will help ensure they can navigate safely in the event of GPS failure in one of the busiest shipping regions in the world, with expected annual traffic of 200,000 vessels by 2020.
Ships carry 95 percent of UK trade, accounting for its strongly expressed concerns regarding GPS vulnerability to jamming and spoofing, and the leadership role it has taken in eLoran research and testing. The UK is the first country in the world to deploy the technology along its coastline, thronged with both passenger and cargo services. Deployment involved replacing the existing radio receiver equipment in two prototype reference stations at Dover and Harwich, and the creation of five new reference stations in the Thames, Humber, Middlesbrough, and Firth of Forth and Aberdeen in Scotland, on the North Sea where oil-laden vessels come from deep-sea drilling rigs.
Entirely independent of GPS, eLoran can provide navigation information for vessels as well as the timing data necessary to maintain the power grid, cell phones, financial networks, and the Internet in the event of an outage. Unlike space-based navigation, eLoran signals can also reach inside buildings, underground, and underwater.
Captain Ian McNaught, deputy master of Trinity House, commented, “eLoran provides a signal around 1 million times more powerful than those from satellite signals, providing resilience from interference and attack. The achievement of initial operational capability for the system at Dover and along the east coast of the UK is a significant milestone, providing for improved safety aboard appropriately equipped vessels. The maritime industry would now benefit from the installation of eLoran receivers on more vessels to take advantage of improved navigational safety.”
“Telecoms, finance, energy, and other industries, which are subject to significant issues caused by the loss of timing signal provided by GPS, are recommended to take advantage of the enhanced reliability now available to address the over-dependence of key national infrastructure on vulnerable satellite systems,” McNaught said.
eLoran technology is based on longwave radio signals and is independent and complementary to GPS.
Several other nations are consulting with the UK GLAs on eLoran. South Korea wants to establish an eLoran alliance with the UK while it pursues its own rollout of differential eLoran reference stations and new eLoran transmitters based on the latest technology. In 2012, South Korea was the victim of a 16-day GPS jamming attack by North Korea.
Full operational capability covering all major UK ports is expected by 2019.
Galileo Roving High
The fifth Galileo navigation satellite, one of two left in the wrong orbit in August, made a series of November maneuvers as a prelude to its health being confirmed. The aim was to raise the lowest point of its orbit — its perigee — to reduce the radiation exposure from the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth, as well as to put it into a more useful orbit for navigation purposes.
Should the two-week operation prove successful, the sixth Galileo satellite will follow the same route, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
The Galileo pair, launched together on a Soyuz rocket on August 22, ended up in an elongated orbit traveling out to 25,900 kilometers (km) above Earth and back down to 13,713 km. The target orbit was a purely circular one at an altitude of 23,222 km. Also, the orbits are angled relative to the Equator less than originally planned.
The two satellites have only enough fuel to lift their altitude by about 4,000 km — insufficient to correct their orbits entirely. But the move will take the fifth satellite into a more circular orbit than before, with a higher perigee of 17,339 km.
“The new orbit will fly over the same location every 20 days,” said Daniel Navarro-Reyes, ESA Galileo mission analyst. “The standard Galileo repeat pattern is every 10 days, so achieving this will synchronize the ground track with the rest of the Galileo satellites.”
“In addition, from a user receiver point of view, the revised orbit will reduce the variation in signal levels, reduce the Doppler shift of the signal, and increase the satellite’s visibility,”Navarro-Reyes said. “For the satellite, reducing its radiation exposure in the Van Allen radiation belts will protect it from further exposure to charged particles. The orbit will also allow Galileo’s Earth Sensor to hold a stable direction for the satellite’s main antenna to point at Earth. Right now, when the satellite dips to its lowest point, Earth appears so large that the sensor is unusable. The satellite relies on gyroscopes alone, degrading its attitude precision.”
The recovery is being overseen from the Galileo Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, with the assistance of ESA’s Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany. France’s CNES space agency is providing additional ground stations so that contact can be maintained with the satellite as needed, ESA said.
Welcome IIF-8
The U.S. Air Force launched the eighth GPS IIF satellite on October 29, aboard an Atlas V 401 rocket. With this new arrival on orbit, only four more Block IIF satellites remain to be placed aloft. Three are in storage awaiting launch, and one is in production.
The Boeing-built GPS IIF-8 (SVN-69/PRN-03) will replace SVN-51 in the E plane slot 1. SVN-51 will be re-phased from E1 to an auxiliary node at E7 somewhere around SVN-54 currently on station at E4, according to the Air Force Second Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS).SVN-38/PRN-08 will be taken out of the operational constellation prior to SVN-69 payload initialization and sent to Launch, Anomaly Resolution and Disposal Operations (LADO).PRN-08 will be assigned initially to SVN-49 and set to test.
SVN-51 will remain in an auxiliary node once it completes its re-phase journey. The SVN-51 re-phase will take about six months after the initial burn occurs.
By Li Wang, Director of the International Cooperation Center, China Satellite Navigation Office
By adhering to the principles of independence, openness, compatibility, and gradualness, China is steadily accelerating the construction and development of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.
The BeiDou System already provides continuous and reliable Full Operational Services to most parts of the Asia-Pacific region. Its positioning, navigation, and timing performance keeps improving, while the deployment for a global constellation is also making progress. The BeiDou System and its products, which are compatible with other navigation satellite systems, have been gradually applied in many sectors and industries related to the national economy and to entering the mass market.
As one of the four core GNSS service providers, BeiDou has always made unswerving efforts to exchange, coordinate, and cooperate with other organizations, system providers, and users.
BeiDou has been actively engaged in international affairs on the platform of the United Nations, such as participation in related activities held by the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG), and coordinated affairs under the framework of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It has also pushed forward the integrated applications of BeiDou and other navigation satellite systems in the fields of civil aviation, maritime traffic, mobile communication, and so on.
In order to provide better services for global users, the BeiDou system has carried out exchanges and coordination with the other navigation satellite systems. It has established cooperative mechanisms with GPS and GLONASS, and respectively signed the Joint Statement of U.S.-China Civil Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Cooperation, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding between China and Russia on Cooperation in the Field of Satellite Navigation. Furthermore, the cooperation between the BeiDou and Galileo systems has also been included into the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation.
Potential areas for cooperation may include compatibility and interoperability, GNSS applications, policies and standards, international GNSS service performance monitoring and assessment, and so on.
Meanwhile, the BeiDou System continues carrying out the BeiDou/GNSS Application Demonstration & Experience Campaign (BADEC) and has negotiated with related countries to jointly establish BeiDou/GNSS Centers. Those centers will implement BeiDou/GNSS popularization, exhibition, application demonstration, and user experience activities, as well as system performance testing and assessment, academic exchanges, training, and R&D, to jointly promote the compatibility and interoperability among the multiple navigation satellite systems, boost the spread of technologies, and improve satellite navigation applications and industrial development..
In 2015, China will continue this effort, launching four to five next-generation BeiDou Navigation Satellites (MEO and IGSO) for testing and verification of new technologies.The BeiDou System with global coverage will completely be established by around 2020. This will enable provision of continuous, stable, and reliable satellite navigation services for global users.
Global navigation satellite systems and related industries are going through an unprecedented revolution. Under such an environment, compatibility and interoperability among systems, and integration of multiple industries, will be the tendencies of future, which will definitely promote wide applications of GNSS in broadening fields. During such a process, the BeiDou System with distinctive characteristics will abide by the objective of “serve the world and benefit mankind,” undertaking the responsibility and obligation to work together with other systems to provide better services for global users.
Li Wang is the director of the International Cooperation Center, China Satellite Navigation Office.
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) hosted the ninth meeting of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) in November at its headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic. The event is an opportunity for GNSS providers to present the status and future plans for their systems, and an opportunity for ICG members, associate members, and observers to provide updates on recent developments with regard to GNSS services and applications.
Representatives from the world’s leading global and regional GNSS programs were invited to provide the assembly with a “state of play” for their respective systems. Joining GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, IRNSS/GAGAN, and QZSS was Galileo, represented by Christian Siebert, Head of Unit, Galileo and EGNOS: Applications, Security and International Cooperation, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission.
A Secure Foundation
The key message coming from Prague was that, despite the launch anomaly in August, the Galileo program has a secure foundation for moving forward. For instance, it has been given a stable seven-year perspective, a substantial budget, and a new exploitation-driven governance scheme. In terms of budget, the European Commission has allocated €1.930 billion for deployment and €3 billion for exploitation — with an additional €1.580 billion allocation for European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) exploitation.
The new governance scheme is based on a recently announced agreement between the European Commission and the GSA; the agreement delegates a range of exploitation tasks for Galileo to the GSA. Serving as an initial step towards the full Galileo Exploitation Phase, the GSA’s responsibilities now include:
provision and marketing of the services;
management, maintenance, continuous improvement, evolution and protection of the space and ground infrastructure;
research and development of receiver platforms with innovative features in different application domains;
development of future generations of the system;
cooperation with other GNSS;
all other required activities to ensure the development and smooth running of the system.
This new budget and governance structure ensures the Galileo program’s stability for the next seven years, according to a GSA press release. The agency will progressively manage exploitation activities as delegated by the European Commission, which serves as the program’s supervisor.
At the same time, the European Space Agency (ESA) will continue its role for system design and development.
A Range of Successes
“The past year has seen the program achieve a range of milestones,” said Siebert. “The Galileo In-Orbit Validation Phase was successfully concluded, the ground infrastructure deployment finalized for initial operations, and the new satellite design qualified.”
Even with the satellite launch anomaly that left two satellites in the wrong orbit, the ESA just announced that one of these satellites will soon make a series of maneuvers as a prelude to its health being confirmed. The aim is to raise the lowest point of its orbit — its perigee — to reduce the radiation exposure from the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth, as well as put it into a more useful orbit for navigation purposes. If the operation is successful, the second satellite will follow suit.
As to the cause of the anomaly itself, Siebert said Arianespace has established an inquiry board to investigate, and the European Commission and ESA continue to analyze the best options for recovering the initial mission to the best possible extent. A new launch sequence will be confirmed in the near future.
That being said, the deployment plan for the Galileo constellation is secured, with 26 satellites ordered (four IOV and 22 FOC) and launcher service contracts for the full constellation signed with Arianespace. As to the new satellite design, production proceeds at a good pace, with full operational capability (FOC) satellites being built by OHB Systems and navigation payloads provided by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.
In terms of services, the Search and Rescue Forward Link Alert Service successfully tested the networked ground segment last April, and positioning accuracy exceeds expectations.
As to the Commercial Services Demonstrator, the main objective of the demonstrator was to test and characterize the high accuracy and authentication performance obtainable with the Galileo Commercial Service. The first results are extremely promising, with high accuracy already demonstrated through PPP information transmitted via E6B and used to enhance both Galileo and GPS.
Siebert noted that the ongoing Receiver Test Campaign supports manufacturers to ensure that Galileo is well implemented in chipsets and receivers. To accomplish this, the program continues to develop dialogs with the user/receiver segment to understand the market situation and follow up adoption of Galileo.
Looking Ahead
With this secure foundation, looking towards 2015 and beyond, Galileo is set to deliver a reliable, high-quality service to the world, according to EC and ESA spokespersons presenting at the ICG. “With its substantial budget and exploitation-focused governance scheme, it will continue to evolve and introduce innovative features,” Siebert affirmed.
Next steps for the program include a gradual introduction of the early phase of service delivery, which will rely heavily on interaction with users. Early services will be run with continued infrastructure deployments. The program will soon conduct a service validation campaign, along with finalizing the Commercial Service definition and developing a long-term service plan.
“This service plan will be aligned with the trend of most user communities moving towards service levels based on a multi-constellation approach,” concluded Siebert. “Knowing this, it is crucial to continue to improve signal compatibility and interoperability of the Galileo service with other providers and cooperate on building multi-constellation programs.”
By Colonel William T. “Bill” Cooley, U.S. Air Force, Director, Global Positioning System
Last year in my “Directions” article, I emphasized the commitment made by the U.S. government to ensure GPS signals are available to all users, and I shared some of our excitement in the GPS Directorate regarding the modernized capabilities we are developing and fielding. This year I’d like to share with you progress we’ve made in the past 12 months, provide an update on the modernization initiatives, and challenge civil users and receiver companies to innovate and accelerate these modernized capabilities for users worldwide.
This past year has been productive for the GPS program. The most visible progress was the addition of four new Boeing-built GPS IIF satellites to the GPS constellation, bringing the total number of available satellites from 36 to 39 (SVN-33 was safely disposed in October 2014, or the number would be 40). These additions also reduced the average age of the satellites on orbit from 11.1 to 10.3 years. This year’s GPS launch tempo had not been matched since the early 1990s! Table 1 lists the current satellites in the constellation by block.
TABLE 1. GPS constellation as of October 31, 2014.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the GPS satellite constellation is the ever-improving performance. As I mentioned last year, the 2008 Standard Positioning Service (SPS) Performance Standard, issued by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, codifies our commitment to civil users. Among other attributes that make GPS the “gold standard” for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), the SPS requires a signal-in-space (SIS) user range error (URE) of 4.0 meters or less for every healthy satellite. The SIS URE is the difference between a GPS satellite’s navigation message (for example, ephemeris data and satellite clock correction data) versus the truth (for example, satellite transmit antenna location and satellite clock offset from GPS time). While the commitment of the U.S. government is four meters or less, the actual average performance over the past year has been 0.68 meters and in the past quarter has been an impressive 0.63 meters!
While this is admirable, continued modernization efforts will allow us even better performance. A significant contributor to the errors experienced by GPS receivers are ionospheric delays that can be eliminated only with knowing the characteristics of the ionosphere (free electron density in the region roughly 100-1,000 kilometers above the Earth’s surface) or by using two signals at different known frequencies. While systems like Federal Aviation Administration Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and the U.S. Coast Guard National Differential GPS (NDGPS) provide a modeled approximation of the ionosphere, the new L2C and L5 civil signals on the GPS IIR-M, GPS IIF, and soon-to-launch GPS III satellites enable GPS receivers to directly measure and eliminate the ionospheric delays altogether — thereby delivering on the GPS modernization program first announced in 1999. These new signals began pre-operational Civil Navigation (CNAV) message broadcast on 28 April 2014 (with the L2C signal set “healthy” and L5 set “unhealthy” until sufficient monitoring capability is established).
With CNAV now on the air, civil users should take advantage of it. My challenge to commercial receiver companies and innovators is to incorporate the modernized signals in future receivers and continue to improve user experience and GPS performance. Currently 14 L2C-broadcasting satellites are in the constellation, and by early 2016 we expect to have 19 on-orbit and transmitting L2C (7 GPS IIR-Ms and 12 GPS IIFs). GPS modernization is well on its way from a signal-in-space perspective; receiver manufacturers and innovators must bring new, improved products and solutions to users.
Less visible but real progress modernizing the GPS Enterprise is underway with the next generation of GPS satellites, ground control, and user equipment segments. The first GPS III satellite and the newly developed navigation payload have been delayed approximately two years from the original planned delivery of the completed GPS III satellite of October 2014. But in September of this year, the GPS III navigation payload was shipped from Exelis (the payload subcontractor) in Clifton, New Jersey, to Lockheed Martin’s (GPS III prime contractor) facility in Waterton, Colorado. There, it completed the payload-level thermal vacuum testing at the end of October, a key step toward payload and eventually satellite vehicle delivery. The first GPS III satellite is now 87% complete and the program is making solid progress.
The GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System (OCX), with Raytheon as the prime contractor, experienced significant challenges in development but can also claim measurable progress this year. Complex cyber-security requirements and their implementation drove a significant number of these challenges, but are essential to provide civil and military GPS users with a secure and resilient command and control system. These and other challenges resulted in significant cost and schedule overruns and a two-year delay to the program, which drove an update to the development plan. The revised OCX plan reflects the complexity of implementing these unique cyber requirements and accounts for planned improvements to Raytheon’s systems engineering and software development approach. The plan establishes a schedule meeting GPS III’s projected first-launch date.
Despite its challenges, OCX development completed four end-to-end space-to-ground launch readiness exercises with GPS III, as well as entered the formal integration and test phase. The new monitoring station receivers are entering qualification test, and the first production receiver is on track to be delivered in spring of 2015. OCX is on track to provide robust PNT services, improvements in URE accuracy, enable access to new military and civil signals, and provide cyber security for the GPS ground control.
Our development of Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) is another area where we have made important strides this past year. We started the year by developing a commercial market-based acquisition approach that will accelerate delivery of MGUE systems by years. In this effort, we want to establish a race to a certified marketplace where the U.S. government serves as the race official while our industry partners set their own pace to deliver capability. Our goal is to increase speed of delivery to the warfighter while capitalizing on industry’s ability to innovate.
Our MGUE team of government and industry partners (Rockwell Collins, Raytheon, and L3) successfully completed major system design reviews demonstrating a readiness to define the process of security and compatibility certification. Additionally, the team participated in the GYPSY Juliett multi-service, multi-nation PNT demonstration hosted by the U.S. Strategic Command this past summer. While we battled the elements through two hurricanes, the team successfully demonstrated the capability of M-Code receiver cards in an operational demonstration. Our goal is to enable full operational testing with four lead platforms in summer 2016.
While many risks and challenges to GPS modernization still lie ahead of us, the persistent effort by the GPS team has produced important progress in 2014 across the space, ground, and user equipment segments.
A civilian GPS user recently thanked me for providing the incredibly useful utility free to everyone around the globe. Although my impulsive response was to say simply, “You’re welcome,” I’d like to provide a more thoughtful and thorough reply that recognizes those responsible for GPS.
There are two key groups to thank for GPS: the first is the men and women across the United States government and industry who develop, field, and operate the GPS Enterprise. Among this group are satellite factory technicians, software engineers improving the ground segment, receiver designers, program office engineers, and satellite operators continuously monitoring the constellation, updating each GPS satellite’s clock correction and ephemeris data 24/7. This team works with an unwavering passion for this mission that inspires me every day.
The second group responsible for GPS is the American taxpayer who, through Congress, funds the GPS Enterprise every year.The U.S. financial commitment to GPS is not just for U.S. security or the well documented positive impact GPS has on the American economy, but for the benefit of the entire world as a global utility. GPS is the gold standard for PNT because American taxpayers continuously provide fiscal support so the GPS Enterprise’s men and women can design, produce, field, and maintain the global utility that we all have come to depend on.
Thank you for supporting this enterprise, and know that the GPS team works hard to ensure those resources are spent wisely to provide continuously improving, predictable, and dependable performance from the Global Positioning System.
Colonel William T. Cooley is director, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Directorate, Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California.
The first navigation signal transmission from the fifth Galileo satellite, one of two Full Operational Capability satellites launched into wrong orbits on August 22, was received today.
Stations of the Cooperative Network for GNSS Observation (CONGO) and the International GNSS Service Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) network tracked an E1 signal with a PRN code of E18 this morning. The signal was first tracked at the La Laguna station (LLAG, Tenerife, Canary Islands) at 06:08:00 UTC.
A few moments later, the satellite was also tracked at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell (WTZ3, Wettzell, Germany) and at the University of New Brunswick (UNBD, Fredericton, Canada). The receivers at all three stations are JAVAD GNSS Triumph receivers.
Analysis of current Galileo satellite visibility at various tracking stations confirms that the active satellite is GSAT0201, also known as Galileo FOC-FM1 or Galileo 5, with COSPAR ID 2014-050A and NORAD ID 40128.
As reported earlier, the perigee of Galileo 5’s orbit was raised in an effort to make the satellite usable for research, at least, and potentially for positioning and navigation.
The second of two GLONASS-K1 satellites was launched from the snowy Plesetsk Cosmodrome on November 30 at 21:52 UTC. It joins the first GLONASS-K1 satellite launched on February 26, 2011.
According to the Roscosmos Information-Analytical Centre, the satellite, with serial number 12, is to be known by its in-orbit name of GLONASS 702. It is destined for orbital slot 9 in Plane 2.
The satellite will transmit five navigation signals in the L1, L2, and L3 bands. The satellite also carries a COSPAS/SARSAT transponder.
The satellite was launched on top of a Soyuz 2-1b booster. A statement from Roscosmos confirmed the 2,060-pound navigation satellite separated from the launcher in the correct orbit.
GLONASS-K satellites are designed to last longer, transmit more navigation signals, and launch on smaller rockets. Like the first Glonass K spacecraft, the second satellite will demonstrate new technologies that Russia plans to incorporate into GLONASS, according to Spaceflight Now.
Rollout:
Launch:
Gallery (photos from the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.)
The orbit of one of the two Galileo satellites launched into incorrect orbits on August 22 is being adjusted. Tracking data supplied by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the U.S. Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) has confirmed the change.
The satellites were supposed to go into circular orbits with an inclination to the equator of 56 degrees and with a semi-major axis of about 29,600 km. They ended up in eccentric orbits with semi-major axes more than 3,300 km shorter and with an inclination of about 49.7 degrees.
Instead of an orbital height of 23,222 km above the surface of the Earth, they were moving between apogee heights of about 25,900 km and perigee heights of about 13,800 km, perilously close to the most dangerous regions of the Van Allen radiation belts.
The European Space Agency announced on November 10 that the orbit of one of the two wayward satellites, Galileo 5, would have its perigee raised to 17,339 km through a series of 15 orbital maneuvers. This orbital adjustment would put the satellite into a safer orbit and potentially make it useable for positioning and navigation. If the operation is successful, Galileo 6 will follow suit.
These maneuvers likely started on or shortly after November 8. After the maneuvers began, NORAD/JSpOC temporarily “lost” the satellite as often happens when satellites undergo unpredicted Delta-V operations. NORAD/JSpOC recovered the satellite after about 18 days and issued new orbital elements for the satellite on November 25.
The new elements show that (so far) the perigee of Galileo 5 has been raised from about 13,820 km to 17,230 km with a corresponding change in the orbital eccentricity from about 0.23053 to 0.15619. The apogee height is virtually the same as that immediately after launch. Also, the inclination is not and will not be materially changed.
An animation, produced using the NORAD/JSpOC orbital element sets and the XEphem software, compares Galileo 5’s old and new orbits:
A U.S. government representative stated at an international satnav forum that mandating use of specific GNSS services for applications such as air-traffic control, freight shipments, emergency calling, and road tolling could violate the terms of World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements that many nations, including all six GNSS providers, have signed. Regional mandates already exist for Glonass in Russia and Beidou in China, and have been suggested and extensively discussed in Europe, as a way of stimulating the market adoption of Galileo receiver chipsets, thus recouping some of the massive public investment in the satnav system.
The presentation occurred during the 9th Meeting of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG), November 10–14 in Prague, the Czech Republic.
Jason Kim, a senior policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Commerce, stated that the United States and EU already enjoy a productive dialogue on GNSS trade issues under the 2004 U.S.-EU Agreement on GPS-Galileo Cooperation. In that agreement, both parties agreed to consult before establishing GNSS standards, certification requirements, regulations, mandates; affirmed their non-discriminatory approach with respect to GNSS trade; and established a working group to consider non-discrimination and other trade related issues. Finally, the United States and the European Union recognized and reiterated in 2004 their commitments to WTO rules including those governing technical barriers to trade (TBT), specifically, that there would be no goods discrimination based on non-tariff measures such as regulations, standards, testing, or certification.
Kim made the remarks in the course of his presentation titled “GNSS Market Access.” He told GPS World that his presentation was directed less at the European Union, which has been conscientious of its WTO commitments, and more towards the rest of the ICG members, including non-provider nations that may be asked by GNSS providers to mandate specific systems..
“To promote adoption of their systems,” Kim stated, “GNSS providers are considering/implementing equipage mandates for various applications: aviation, motor-carrier and HAZMAT vehicle tracking, car accident reporting (eCall/ERA-GLONASS), and emergency phone calls (E112).
“The United States recommends technology-neutral, performance-based standards,” Kim continued, giving as example the U.S. E911 rules that specify a required positioning accuracy and then allow wireless carriers to choose the best technical solutions according to their lights.
The U.S. government presentation at ICG revealed particular concern that regulations under consideration could adversely affect the sales of U.S. GPS-enabled hardware in many industry sectors. All members of the WTO, to include the six GNSS providers on the ICG, are bound to a range of trade agreements designed to promote open market access, all cited in the Prague ICG presentation: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The United States, Europe, Japan, and 12 others are also parties to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA).
European Commission officials have publicly and recently stated that they are considering how to stimulate Galileo use, in particular through regulatory measures requiring that navigation equipment be installed on aircraft, automobiles, and other platforms.
“Requiring specific systems arbitrarily prevents or penalizes imports of goods having perfectly functional GNSS capability,” said Kim. “WTO members must comply with TBT obligations in setting technical regulations.”
He concluded his presentation by requesting that the ICG Providers’ Forum add GNSS market access to its future agenda for discussion, and consider developing a new principle on market access for future adoption.
The ICG, an organization established in 2005 under the umbrella of the United Nations to discuss GNSS to benefit people around the world, “promotes voluntary cooperation on matters of mutual interest related to civil satellite-based positioning, navigation, timing, and value-added services. The ICG contributes to the sustainable development of the world. Among the core missions of the ICG are to encourage coordination among providers of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), regional systems, and augmentations in order to ensure greater compatibility, interoperability, and transparency, and to promote the introduction and utilization of these services and their future enhancements, including in developing countries, through assistance, if necessary, with the integration into their infrastructures. The ICG also serves to assist GNSS users with their development plans and applications, by encouraging coordination and serving as a focal point for information exchange.”
Space News is reporting that the U.S. government has alerted the European Union that any preferential treatment the EU gives to its Galileo positioning, navigation and timing network will likely violate World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements signed by the United States and the 28-nation EU.
According to a report by Peter B. de Selding, U.S. government officials voiced concerns that the EU is weighing equipment mandates for aviation, car-accident reporting and emergency-call regulations that could unfairly tip the scales in favor of Galileo to the detriment of U.S. GPS-enabled hardware.
In a presentation to the 9th Meeting of the International Committee on GNSS, held Nov. 10-14 in Prague, a senior GPS official said the United States and the EU have signed a wide body of satellite navigation agreements designed to promote open market access and interoperability.
European Commission officials have said in recent months that they are still weighing how to stimulate Galileo use.
Capt. Jared Delaney, 19th Space Operations Squadron satellite vehicle operator, right, and Senior Airman Bryan Wynkoop, 19 SOPS satellite system operator, monitor telemetry during the GPS SVN-69 launch Oct. 29, 2014 at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. (U.S. Air Force photo/Dennis Rogers).
The following story by Scott Prater appeared in the Schriever Sentinel, a weekly newspaper published by the Colorado Springs Military Newspaper Group. See http://www.schriever.af.mil/units/publicaffairs/ for further information.
By Scott Prater Schriever Sentinel
11/19/2014 – SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — It’s been a busy year for members of the 19th Space Operations Squadron. As operators of the GPS launch and early orbit, anomaly-resolution and disposal system, 19 SOPS members executed a historically high number of satellite launches (four), and disposed of a legacy GPS vehicle, all within the past 10 months.
“The last time we launched four vehicles in one year was 1993,” said Maj. Kimberly Adams, 19 SOPS LADO flight commander. “We’re looking forward to a more normal [operations] tempo, in the coming year.”
Tensions were high Oct. 29 during the lift-off and early-orbit of SVN-69, a GPS Block IIF vehicle, when a CBS news crew captured film footage of the event on the operations floor here.
“That was out of the ordinary for sure,” Adams said. “Compound that anxiety with the knowledge that we had just completed final configuration of a GPS vehicle disposal not 48 hours prior and you can understand the type of month October was for us and our 2nd Space Operations Squadron teammates.”
Senior Airman Bryan Wynkoop, 19 SOPS satellite system operator, wouldn’t change a thing about the past few months of 2014.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “This sure beats working a regular job. The drama and importance of what’s taking place here is exactly what I signed up for.”
Adams and Wynkoop are Air Force Reservists, as are all 19 SOPS members. The squadron falls under the Air Force’s 310th Space Wing, headquartered at Schriever AFB, and works in partnership with 2 SOPS, the 50th Space Wing unit responsible for commanding and controlling the GPS constellation.
Adams says 19 SOPS was stood up precisely to conduct GPS launches, manage anomalies and process disposals.
“We start preparing for launch about 90 days out,” Adams said. “With so many launches so close together, we often began preparations for one launch before the previous one was off the pad.”
Their partnership with 2 SOPS has proved beneficial for both squadrons.
“This most recent launch was my seventh and Airman Wynkoop’s sixth,” said Adams, who is in her fifth year at 19 SOPS. “Active-duty Airmen typically reside on station for roughly three years, so oftentimes our 2 SOPS teammates are looking to us to provide continuity and experience.”
That continuity became crucial during disposal operations for SVN-33. It had been more than two years since the two squadrons had disposed of a vehicle and Wynkoop was one of the few Airmen at Schriever who was familiar with the operation’s intricacies.
“These events don’t happen often, so to have played a role in two huge events was something special for all of us who were here,” he said.
Less than 48 hours after SVN-33 had been fully configured for disposal, SVN-69 was standing on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Adams, Wynkoop and their fellow 19 SOPS operators’ day started eight hours prior to the launch.
“Wynkoop had to set up communications links with our antenna at the Cape so we could get telemetry data from the satellite,” Adams said. “Once the rocket lifted off, I was performing communications checks and verifying that we were meeting all of our requirements.”
Then they waited.
Three and half hours after launch, SVN-69 separated from its booster rocket.
“At that point we obtained an initial state of health from the satellite to ensure everything was OK and then we started commanding,” Adams said.
Wynkoop explained that though he and his teammates are actually studying telemetry data through their monitors on the operations floor, it’s easy to envision what’s happening in space.
“The vehicle is spinning once it separates from the booster,” he said. “We then issue commands to slow the spin and deploy the vehicle’s solar arrays, antennas and other critical components. Later, we get the vehicle in a condition known as sun safe. Shortly after, the vehicle acquires Earth and is in a stable orbit in the GPS slot where it’s supposed to be.”
Now, it’s up to 2 SOPS to command and control the satellite, one of 39 on orbit. The squadron expects to receive satellite control authority of the spacecraft later this month and the next GPS launch is scheduled for March 2015.
China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) and the Russian GLONASS nonprofit partnership agreed to establish a joint venture to promote worldwide services based on GLONASS and BeiDou, according to a report in the Russian daily newspaper izvestia.
The two parties met November 11 in the Chinese city of Zhuhai. Under the agreement, the parties will identify existing technological competence that will be the foundation for the joint venture, and seek government support for joint initiatives to promote abroad.
Before the establishment of the joint venture, the parties agreed to establish a Russian-Chinese center for the implementation of satellite navigation technologies in the civil sphere. According to the agreement, “The center will be the controlling authority in determining the future direction of the joint venture and will deal with administrative issues related to the establishment of the future joint venture.”
Another topic at the meeting was the feasibility of establishing an international techno park dedicated navigation topics using GLONASS and BeiDou. China already has two specialized industrial park focused on developing technologies based on BeiDou.
NORINCOis a Chinese company that manufactures vehicles, machinery, optical-electronic products, oil-field equipment, chemicals, light industrial products, explosives and blast materials, and civil and military firearms and ammunition. NORINCO is also involved in domestic civil construction projects.
