UPDATE: According to ION, Thomas Reuters is starting the indexing process, which is expected to take several more weeks.
NAVIGATION, the Journal of The Institute of Navigation, has been accepted for indexing in several Thomson Reuters databases. “This indexing is an exciting step in the fundamental growth of the journal and will increase the visibility and discoverability of all the articles published since 2012,” said Boris Pervan, NAVIGATION editor.
Beginning with V. 59 (1) 2012, NAVIGATION will be indexed and abstracted in:
Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch)
Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition
Current Contents / Engineering Computing and Technology
The Science Citation Index Expanded covers more than 6,500 notable and significant journals, across 150 disciplines, from 1900 to the present. These journals, alternately described as the world’s leading journals of science and technology, because of a rigorous selection process, provides researchers, administrators, faculty, and students with quick, powerful access to the bibliographic and citation information they need to find research data, analyze trends, journals and researchers, and share their findings.
The Journal Citation Reports (JCR), an annual publication by the Science and Scholarly Research division of Thomson Reuters, has been integrated with the Web of Science and is accessed from the Web of Science-Core Collections. It provides information about academic journals in the sciences and social sciences, including impact factors.
The Current Contents Connect is a current awareness database that provides easy Web access to complete tables of contents, abstracts, bibliographic information, and abstracts from the most recently published issues of leading scholarly journals, as well as from more than 7,000 relevant, evaluated websites.
NAVIGATION, the quarterly Journal of The Institute of Navigation is published in partnership with John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and publishes peer-reviewed articles on all areas related to the science and technology of air, sea, land and space navigation, including estimation of position, velocity, attitude, and time.
RT Logic has been awarded a $1 million follow-on contract to provide ground system components for the USAF GPS OCX program, bringing RT Logic’s total OCX contract awards to over $4 million. RT Logic is a subsidiary of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.
OCX is the next generation GPS ground system designed to bring flexibility, adaptability, and modularity to the position, navigation, and timing (PNT) mission. RT Logic is the primary equipment supplier for the Command and Control (C2) portion of OCX, providing software front-end processor units and Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) gateways.
RT Logic supports Raytheon, the prime contractor for GPS OCX, with RT Logic’s net-centric software products for C2 of the GPS III satellites using next generation IP cryptosystems. The IP cryptosystems use industry-standard IP interfaces, eliminating the need for custom serial interfaces, which is intended to ease integration challenges, improve reliability, lower transition risk, and reduce cost.
RT Logic’s software-based products will enable Raytheon to add new features to meet evolving requirements as needed, the company said. In addition, RT Logic will build a high-fidelity lab environment that simulates the GPS mission string. This lab system will allow Raytheon to cost-effectively resolve issues, integrate and simulate new functionality, and maintain the system without impacting the operational mission or Raytheon’s regression testing schedules, the company said.
The troubled Galileo E20 satellite restarted E1 signal transmission Wednesday evening, August 6.
Galileo E20, also known as GSAT0104, the fourth in-orbit validation (IOV) satellite, has been set “unavailable until further notice” according to the European GNSS Service Centre because of a sudden, unexpected loss of power on May 27.
Based on a selected set of IGS MGEX stations and all CONGO stations, the first signals were tracked at AREG, AUT0, LLAG, and UNB3 at 23:13:00. No E5 signals and no navigation messages are currently transmitted. However, some JAVAD GNSS receivers report from time to time false E5a locks with zero or extremely small C/N0.
The L-band SBAS transponder on the third Luch Multifunctional Space Relay System geostationary satellite, Luch-5V (“v” is the third letter of the Russian alphabet), launched on April 28, has started test transmissions using PRN code 140.
The satellite is positioned at 95° east longitude and completes the Russian three-satellite SBAS constelltion for the System for Differential Corrections and Monitoring. Stations in the IGS tracking network first noticed the signals on July 15, but it wasn’t clear where they were coming from. This is because the satellite is not yet transmitting its position and PRN 140 has also been used by the first Luch satellite, Luch-5A, although it hasn’t been heard from recently. It was expected that Luch-5V would use PRN 141, also assigned for the Luch satellites by the GPS Systems Directorate.
By using the pseudorange measurements recorded by the IGS stations and the orbit positions of both the Luch-5A and Luch-5V satellites derived from NORAD 2-line element sets, it was confirmed that the PRN 140 signals were indeed coming from Luch-5V.
The Luch-5V signals have been noted on a few subsequent days but with a very large clock offset from GPS System Time.
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the seventh GPS IIF satellite for the U.S. Air Force launched at 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, August 1 (03:23 UTC, August 2), from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
GPS IIF-7 launches into orbit. (Photo credit: United Launch Alliance)
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the seventh GPS IIF satellite for the U.S. Air Force launched at 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, August 1 (03:23 UTC, August 2), from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.The Boeing-built satellite has sent the signals to controllers that confirm it is currently operating properly within the constellation.
Boeing and the Air Force will complete the full on-orbit checkout of the satellite in August. The GPS IIFs offer improved signal accuracy, better anti-jamming capability, longer design life and the new civilian L5 signal.
“We are providing our Air Force partner and GPS users with a steady supply of advanced GPS IIFs,” said Craig Cooning, president of Boeing Network & Space Systems. “Our robust launch tempo requires vigilance and attention to detail, and mission success is our top priority. We continue to partner with the Air Force and ULA to effectively execute the launch schedule.”
GPS IIF-7 is the seventh of 12 such satellites Boeing has built for the U.S. Air Force, and the third on-orbit delivery this year. GPS IIF-8, slated for launch during the fourth quarter, arrived at Cape Canaveral on July 16 to undergo final launch preparations. GPS IIF-7 will join a worldwide timing and navigation system utilizing 24 satellites in six different planes, with a minimum of four satellites per plane positioned in orbit approximately 11,000 miles above the Earth’s surface.
“Congratulations to the U.S. Air Force and all of our mission partners on the successful launch of the Atlas V carrying the GPS IIF-7 satellite,” said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Atlas and Delta Programs. “ULA launch vehicles have delivered all of the current generation of GPS satellites, which are providing ever-improving capabilities for users around the world.”
This mission was launched aboard an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) 401 configuration vehicle, which includes a 4-meter-diameter payload fairing. The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine, and the Centaur upper stage was powered by a single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A engine.
The EELV program was established by the United States Air Force to provide assured access to space for Department of Defense and other government payloads. The commercially developed EELV program supports the full range of government mission requirements, while delivering on schedule and providing significant cost savings over the heritage launch systems.
GPS IIF-7 launches into orbit. (Photo credit: United Launch Alliance)
According to Innovation editor Richard Langley, it appears that the satellite will be assigned PRN09, currently unused by the constellation.
The Initial NORAD 2-line element set indicates that the satellite has been launched into the F plane and is drifting towards its assigned orbital slot:
A panorama from the GNSS tide gauge at Onsala Space Observatory. When satellites pass over the sky, the GNSS tide gauge uses signals direct from the satellite and signals reflected off the sea surface to measure the sea level. Photo: Johan Löfgren
New Tide Gauge Uses GNSS to Measure Sea-Level Change
A new way of measuring and monitoring sea level — an important facet of researching climate change — has been implemented by scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden using existing coastal GPS stations.
When satellites pass over the sky, the GNSS tide gauge uses signals direct from the satellite and signals reflected off the sea surface to measure the sea level. Photo: Johan Löfgren
Measuring sea level is an increasingly important part of climate research, and a rising mean sea level is one of the most tangible consequences of climate change. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have studied new ways of measuring sea level that could become important tools for testing climate models and for investigating how the sea level along the world’s coasts is affected by climate change.
Johan Löfgren and Rüdiger Haas, scientists at Chalmers Department of Earth and Space Sciences, have developed and tested an instrument that measures the sea level using a GNSS tide gauge.
“The global mean sea level is rising because of climate change, but the change depends on where you are in the world,” said Rüdiger Haas. “We want to be able to make detailed measurements of sea level so that we can understand how coastal societies will be affected in the future.”
The GNSS tide gauge uses GPS and GLONASS signals. BeiDou and Galileo will be added in the future.
“We measure the sea level using the same radio signals that mobile phones and cars use in their satellite navigation systems,” said Johan Löfgren. “As the satellites pass over the sky, the instrument ‘sees’ their signals — both those that come direct and those that are reflected off the sea surface.”
Antenna Setup. Two antennas, covered by small white radomes, measure signals both directly from the satellites and signals reflected off the sea surface. By analyzing these signals together, the sea level and its variation can be measured up to 20 times per second. The sea-level time series is rich in physical phenomena such as tides (caused mostly by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun), meteorological signals (high and low pressure), and signals from climate change. Through advanced signal processing, these signals can be studied further.
Schematic drawing of the GNSS tide gauge for SNR analysis (left) and phase-delay analysis (right). For the SNR analysis, the satellite signal with elevation ε reflects off the sea surface and interferes with the direct satellite signal at the antenna, creating an interference pattern in the recorded SNR observable that can be related to the reflector height, hr. For the phase delay analysis, the phase delays of the direct and the reflected signals are recorded separately, and through geodetic analysis of the phase delay, the baseline between the antennas can be determined and related to the height of the nadir-looking antenna over the sea surface, ha, and the vertical distance between the antenna phase centers, d.
The scientists’ initial study compared sea-level solutions from two analysis methods: signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) analysis and phase-delay analysis. The SNR analysis uses multipath signals observed with an upward-looking antenna, and the phase delay analysis uses the phase delay for both an upward- and a downward-looking antenna (see diagram).
Both GPS and GLONASS L1 and L2 signals were recorded, and the results were compared to independent measurements of sea level from a co-located pressure tide gauge. The GNSS-derived sea level showed a high correlation with the tide-gauge sea level for both analysis methods. Correlation coefficients for the phase-delay analysis and for the SNR analysis using frequency L1 were 0.95 to 0.97, whereas the correlation coefficients for the SNR analysis using frequency L2 were 0.86 to 0.87.
The phase-delay analysis shows a better agreement with the independent tide gauge sea level than the sea level from SNR analysis. Expressed as RMS differences, the phase-delay analysis achieves values of 3.5 cm (GPS) and 3.3 cm (GLONASS), whereas the SNR analysis achieves 4.0 cm (GPS) and 4.7 cm (GLONASS). The scientists concluded that, for the phase-delay analysis, it is possible to use both frequency bands, and for the SNR analysis, frequency band L2 should be avoided if other signals are available.
The GNSS tide gauge at Onsala Space Observatory uses signals from satellite navigation systems like GPS to measure the sea level. Photo: Johan Löfgren
Land and Sea. Unlike traditional tide gauges, the new GNSS tide gauge can measure changes in both land and sea at the same time, in the same location. That means both long-term and short-term land movements (post-glacial rebound and earthquakes) can be taken into consideration.
“Now we can measure the sea level both relative to the coast and relative to the center of the Earth, which means we can clearly tell the difference between changes in the water level and changes in the land,” said Johan Löfgren.
This summer, other high-precision instruments are being installed to work with the Onsala GNSS tide gauge, in collaboration with SMHI, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.
“Our tide gauge station will become part of a network of stations along the coast of Sweden that will be able to monitor changes in the water level to millimeter precision well into the future,” said Gunnar Elgered, professor at Chalmers Department of Earth and Space Sciences.
The scientists have also shown that existing coastal GNSS stations, installed primarily for the purpose of measuring land movements, can be used to make sea-level measurements.
“We’ve successfully tested a method where only one of the antennas is used to receive the radio signals. That means that existing coastal GNSS stations — there are hundreds of them all over the world — can also be used to measure the sea level,” said Johan Löfgren.
This work was previously reported in these publications: Larson, K.M., J. Lofgren, and R. Haas, “Coastal Sea Level Measurements Using A Single Geodetic GPS Receiver,” Adv. Space Res., Vol. 51(8), 1301-1310, 2013, doi:10.1016/j.asr.2012.04.017, 2013; and Larson, K.M., R. Ray, F. Nievinski, and J. Freymueller, “The Accidental Tide Gauge: A Case Study of GPS Reflections from Kachemak Bay, Alaska,” IEEE GRSL, Vol 10(5), 1200-1205, doi:10.1109/LGRS.2012.2236075, 2013.
First, Lockheed Martin began investigating options for its GPS III payload supply line last year. Then in June of this year, the U.S. Air Force opened a “sources sought” initiative for a production-ready GPS space vehicle, equipped with an alternate payload, for consideration alongside the Lockheed Martin-built GPS III vehicle. Grumman and Boeing have responded to the U.S. Air Force call. Now the U.S. Senate has jumped into the act, with a 2015 defense spending bill that directs the Air Force to allocate at least $20 million for work on a space-based “digital navigation instrument” as a possible alternative to the payload developed for the GPS III satellites.
The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee stated that it “believes that early Air Force investment, when combined with industry investment, into the development of a digital navigation payload will significantly reduce cost and schedule risk for the future GPS constellation.” What exactly is meant by a “digital navigation payload” — as opposed to the current payload under construction — is unclear. The systems on earlier GPS satellites probably used some analog components. Even modern receivers have an analog front end before the analog-to-digital converter. Perhaps the Senate Appropriations subcommittee wants more digitization in the nav unit.
Disaggregation. Further, the committee “firmly believes that movement away from large satellites, where possible, will result in significant cost savings and reduce the schedule to deliver payloads into orbit.”
This idea calls for dispersing space capabilities away from large platforms and into smaller ones.It would require, at the very least, a new constellation architecture for GPS III, an as-yet unexplored concept.
Status. Lockheed Martin is under contract to deliver the first eight GPS III satellites, but the award for up to 22 further IIIs remains open. Difficulties with the payload for the first batch of satellites mean that although Lockheed has three space vehicles ready, it has no signal payload to put aboard them. Subcontractor Exelis is at work on that.
Lockheed Martin spokesperson Chip Eschenfelder has stated that “signal cross talk issues are resolved. The SV01 navigation payload forecast delivery to Lockheed Martin is fall 2014. Once the first navigation payload is delivered, we are into the production phase.”
General John E. Hyten
General Support. At June’s ION Joint Navigation Conference, General John E. Hyten, currently vice and soon to be commander of USAF Space Command, while evincing unqalified support for the system operators, did not address the GPS III manufacturing and supply issue. He confined his industry-related remarks to warning commercial PNT vendors and government program managers to cease placing commercial GPS receivers in critical government systems that support warfighters, government users, and critical national infrastructure.
He strongly advocated for Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Modules and M-Code to help secure these critical systems against interference, jamming and spoofing, and urged manufacturers to build their devices in strict adherence to the U.S. government’s ICD process.
FCC Seeks Spectrum but Supports GPS
In a June 20 workshop on “GPS Protection and Receiver Performance,” the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reiterated the need to safeguard critical infrastructure and public safety — two key uses of GPS.
Despite fears that the FCC would call for new GPS receiver standards, the meeting took a protective and conciliatory tone, even as the FCC continues to seek more frequencies for mobile broadband, citing the need “get more out of the radio spectrum.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler stated, “Today is not about FCC-mandated receiver standards. Rather it is about the best way to protect GPS operations in the context of evolving technology and adjacent spectrum activities.”
The specter of adjacent spectrum use hovered through the day, fully appearing in LightSquared and administration presentations. Otherwise, scant mention was made of the 2012 notion that GPS receivers should be modified to stop alleged “peeking” into adjacent spectrum.
Panel discussions focused on GPS in critical infrastructure and public safety, with presentations by Qualcomm, Motorola, and AT&T. Speakers from T-Mobile, Spirent, Garmin, NovAtel, and John Deere covered GPS’s role in timing and the power grid, financial markets, telecommunication network, and precision agriculture. Paul Galyean of Deere said that “Certainty on the spectrum environment is needed. It’s difficult to design for the future without it.” If GPS receivers had to filter out cellular activity, this “might impact sensitivity, involve excessive size or cost, and might cause distortion of GPS measurements.”
Chris Hegarty, MITRE Corporation, gave a compelling argument for not overhauling receiver methodology: the extremely long lead times for commercial passenger aircraft. “Until 2022 every new Boeing and Airbus is going to fly off with $250,000 worth of navigation equipment that has three $50,000 GPS receivers and antennas and everything else, and they are going to want to use that for 20 to 25 years. So, you have a timing issue. Even if we all decided today that we wanted to do that, some communities simply aren’t going to be able to get it into place until we’re all dead.”
Power Loss Strikes Galileo Satellite
In-Orbit Validation Vehicle May Be Lost to Further Use
The disappearance of signals from Galileo GSAT0104, the fourth in-orbit (IOV) Galileo satellite, arose from a sudden, unexpected loss of power aboard the space vehicle. The exact cause is unknown, or at least unreported as of press time. Some have speculated that the cause could lie in a failure of components around the solid-state power amplifier, including the output multiplexer, cables, or antenna.
If such proves to be the case, ground operators may be powerless to repair the problem. The satellite would be a total loss.
The power outage flashed on May 27, shutting down the satellite’s E1 signal. The signal “re-established itself almost immediately. But as soon as it was back in service, the two other channels’ power dropped and did not recover. The full satellite then was shut down by ground teams,” reported correspondent Peter de Selding.
Looking for a Fix. European Space Agency (ESA) officials stated on July 3 that they would power-on the satellite again during the week of July 7–11 to continue an investigation into the problem, but there have been no subsequent reports. Investigation has been ongoing since the shutdown but has not identified a cause; officials state they have established that it is not related to the onboard atomic clocks.
The four IOV satellites currently aloft differ in both technology and manufacturer from the next phase of Galileo satellites to be launched. The GSAT0104 satellite now in silent orbit was built by Astrium. The newer, operational satellites are produced by OHB-System, following a different payload design. Two of the newer generation are at the Guyana spaceport awaiting a possible late August lift date.
Reporting History. The possibility of a satellite failure was first floated in the June 30 EAGER newsletter (European GNSS and Earth Observation Report), by contributing editor Tim Reynolds. He wrote:
“Has anyone heard anything from Galileo GSAT0104 recently? According to the European GNSS Service Centre, the fourth IOV satellite is ‘unavailable until further notice.’ The setting of unavailability may be due to in-orbit validation testing, as the website implies may be the case, but no further official statement has appeared, nor active user notifications (NAGUs) at http://www.gsc-europa.eu/system-status/user-notifications.”
Two days later, GPSWorld.com posted a follow-up story: “According to reports, the root cause of the outage is under investigation. Some unofficial sources have gone so far as to speculate that GSAT0104’s useful transmission life may be over.”
Then, on July 3, correspondent Peter de Selding (who also contributes to EAGER) reported in Space News, after questioning sources at ESA, that the trouble aboard the fourth IOV Galileo satellite arose from a sudden, unexpected loss of power, as stated in the first paragraph of this article.
Largest Fine in FCC History — $35M — for Chinese Jammer
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to issue the largest fine in its history against C.T.S. Technology Co., Limited, a Chinese electronics manufacturer and online retailer, for allegedly marketing 285 models of signal jamming devices to U.S. consumers for more than two years.
The FCC applied the maximum fine allowed to each jammer model allegedly marketed by C.T.S., resulting in a planned fine of $34,912,500.
“All companies, whether domestic or foreign, are banned from marketing illegal jammers in the U.S.,” said Travis LeBlanc, acting chief of the Enforcement Bureau. “Signal jammers present a direct danger to public safety, potentially blocking the communications of first responders. Operating a jammer is also illegal, and consumers who do so face significant civil and criminal penalties.”
C.T.S. operates a website that markets consumer electronics to individuals in the United States, where it allegedly misled U.S. consumers by falsely claiming that certain signal jammers were approved by the FCC. In fact, the use of such devices by U.S. consumers is illegal under any circumstance. C.T.S. also sold 10 high-powered signal jammers to undercover FCC personnel.
The FCC also is ordering C.T.S. to cease marketing illegal signal jammers to U.S. consumers and provide information to the FCC about any persons and entities in the United Sates that purchased its devices.
Signal jammers are radio frequency transmitters that intentionally block, jam, or interfere with authorized communications, such as cellphone calls, GPS systems, Wi-Fi networks, and first responder communications. It is a violation of federal law to market, sell, import, or use a signal jammer in the United States and its territories, except in very limited circumstances involving federal law enforcement.
The FCC asks people to report the sale or use of an illegal jammer by contacting the FCC Enforcement Bureau through the FCC online complaint portal, or by calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (or 1-888-225-5322). To voluntarily relinquish a signal jammer, e-mail [email protected]. Additional information, including a Consumer Alert and Enforcement Advisory to retailers, is available at www.fcc.gov/jammers.
The GPS IIF-6 satellite was launched May 16. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance.
The Air Force is set to launch the seventh GPS IIF satellite this Friday.
An Atlas V 401 will launch the GPS IIF-7 mission for the U.S. Air Force on Friday, August 1, from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The 18-minute launch window opens at 11:23 p.m. EDT.
A live webcast of the launch will begin at 11:03 p.m. EDT. To keep up to speed with updates to the launch countdown, dial the ULA launch hotline at 1-877-852-4321 or join the Facebook conversation and follow UA on Twitter using the hashtag #GPSIIF7.
GPS IIF-7 is one of the next-generation GPS satellites, incorporating various improvements to provide greater accuracy, increased signals, and enhanced performance for users.
The Air Force Second Space Operations Squadron indicates that IIF-7, SVN-68/PRN-3, will replace SVN-43 in the F plane slot 3 (F3). SVN-43 will be re-phased from F3 to the F2F slot to replace SVN-26. SVN-33 will be taken out of the operational constellation the day after SVN-68 launch and sent to Launch, Anomaly and Disposal Operations (LADO).
SVN-33 was launched on April 9, 1996, successfully serving over 17.5 years, 10.5 years beyond its design life. SVN-26 will back-up SVN-43 once it completes its re-phase journey.
Galileo’s Early Proof of Concept (EPOC) team has successfully tracked the encrypted Galileo E6-B and E6-C signals broadcast by Galileo satellites. As a result, the Commercial Service loop has been closed using both encrypted and non-encrypted signals, GSA said.
During a 10-day testing period, receivers in Tres Cantos, Spain and Poing, Germany, showed the successful tracking and data demodulation of the encrypted signals from the available Galileo satellites, with periods where all satellites transmitting E6 encrypted signals were tracked simultaneously. The tests verified the Galileo Commercial Service (CS) signal’s encryption functionalities, with the data received containing authentication and high accuracy information previously generated outside the Galileo system. This is an essential feature to ensuring Galileo’s high accuracy and authentication services — some of which may be commercial in nature.
“The Commercial Service has the potential to improve the performance of existing location services for all user communities and therefore will be a key element of Galileo’s service provision,” said Carlo des Dorides, Executive Director of the GSA. “It will also help further enhance the Galileo’s economic added-value in the downstream markets.”
The Galileo Commercial Service will deliver a range of added-value features, including positioning accurate to decimeter level and an authentication element, both of which allow for the development of innovative applications for professional or commercial use. The Galileo CS demonstrator began its proof of concept earlier this year, with early service expected to start in 2016.
Once operational, the CS will provide access to two additional encrypted signals on the E6 band, delivering a higher data throughput rate and increased accuracy. CS addresses the authentication and high-precision market segments and will deliver innovative services with improved performance and greater added value than those obtained through the open service.
“Although there are still many steps before the delivery of an operational CS, these first tests prove what Galileo can do in the near future,” said Ignacio Fernández Hernández, European Commission Officer in charge of the Galileo Commercial Service design and management.
The tests are the result of a collective effort involving teams and projects of AALECS (Authentication and Accurate Location Experimentation with the Commercial Service), supported by the European Commission, the GSA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Galileo operator Spaceopal.
The AALECS project is building a platform to connect to the European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) and transmit real time CS data through the Galileo satellites. This platform will be operational by 2015 and will demonstrate the real performance of future high accuracy and authentication services of Galileo prior to early service availability.
The European Commission launched AALECS in January 2014, and it was awarded to a consortium led by GMV including CGI, Qascom, IFEN, Veripos and KU Leuven. As part of the AALECS project, GMV and IFEN developed an early proof-of-concept platform aimed at testing external data transmission through offline means. The project will last for approximately two and a half years.
“This first successful demonstration shows the potential of Galileo to provide a new generation of innovative and high performance satellite-based navigation services,” said Miguel Romay, director of GNSS at GMV. “We are pleased to be part of the team developing the CS demonstrator and contribute to proving the capabilities of Galileo.”
At least some of the work on GPS III continues along prepared tracks, with the award of a Lockheed Martin contract to General Dynamics for two more satellites’ worth of communications hardware. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, was awarded a $25.4 million full-production contract from Lockheed Martin to support the GPS III Network Communications Element (NCE) for space vehicles seven and eight (SV 07-08). This commitment fills out that aspect of the current Lockheed Martin bevy of eight bought by the U.S. Air Force.
Many if not all components of the GPS III constellation beyond the Initial Eight have been called into question recently, with the U.S. Senate, the Air Force, and Lockheed itself keeping open minds about alternatives.
General Dynamics’ NCE components provide the communications functions for the GPS III satellites, including the ground-to-space command and control channel, the space-to-space inter-satellite channel and the command and telemetry communications channels within each satellite. General Dynamics is now under contract with Lockheed Martin for GPS III SV 01-08. Delivery of the NCE components for SV03 and SV04 are scheduled for this summer.
Compared to prior GPS vehicles, the Air Force’s GPS III satellites will deliver three times better accuracy, provide up to eight times more powerful anti-jamming capabilities and include enhancements that extend spacecraft life 25 percent further. GPS III-series satellites also will carry a new civil signal designed to be interoperable with other international global navigation satellite systems, enhancing civilian-user connectivity.
The majority of the work under contract will be performed at the General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems facilities in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Bloomington, Minnesota.
Topcon Positioning Group has added a cellular modem option for the HiPer SR for GIS receiver.
“The integrated modem provides greater functionality for the HiPer SR,” said Jason Hooten, Topcon GIS national sales manager. The unit can now be used as a cellular base station through the MAGNET® Relay option. In addition, the cellular feature allows the receiver to provide a connection to existing data collectors that do not contain internal cellular modems.
“With the new cellular modem and HSPA (High Speed Packet Access), the receiver not only enables users to easily obtain Spectrum-RTK (Real Time Kinematic) and RTK corrections via the Internet, it also allows it to function as a mobile base station as part of the MAGNET Relay GIS broadcasting service, ‘relaying’ corrections to multiple rovers,” Hooten said.
“The multiple configuration options make the compact and lightweight HiPer SR extremely versatile for any GIS user,” said Hooten.
Additional features of the HiPer SR for GIS include 226-channel Vanguard technology with Universal Tracking Channels and Fence Antenna® technology for signal tracking sensitivity and multipath rejection.
