Maiden flight trials have been successfully conducted in Moldova using GMV’s magicSBAS solution. These trials form part of a GMV-led European Commission FP7 collaboration project.
In 2011 the European GNSS Agency (GSA) awarded GMV the EEGS2 project (EGNOS Extension to Eastern Europe). The main objective of the project is to demonstrate through flight trials the benefits of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) in areas of Eastern Europe where it is not yet available, such as Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Russia, and to prepare the civil aviation authorities and air navigation service providers for future use of the system.
In the context of this project, after the tests conducted in Spain, the maiden flights have been successfully carried out in Moldova, using the equipment and tools developed by GMV. The Moldova demonstrations have given pilots and service providers a clear idea of the potential benefits of EGNOS and the flying procedures of the near future, GMV said.
Four flights had previously been conducted in Spain in November, December and February. The satisfactory results of these flights then paved the way for the demonstrations in Moldova.
The magicLPVsystem, developed under this project, enables LPV approaches (localizer performance with vertical guidance) to be carried out using the signal generated by the magicSBAS application. This test environment allows any region of the world to analyze the air-navigation benefits to be obtained with deployment of a Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS). This signal is read by Internet and transmitted by radio frequency in the vicinity of the airport, allowing LPV approaches to be made in places where SBAS is either completely unavailable or available only on a very limited basis.
Eight flights in all were carried out in various Moldovan airports, including Chișinău International Airport. Test results were highly satisfactory, demonstrating the simplicity of equipment configuration and operation, and the performance of the magicSBAS signal, GMV said.
“These trials are an important milestone for GMV, for the project and, fundamentally, for the use of EGNOS in the countries of Eastern Europe in the near future,” said Miguel Romay, executive director of GNSS–Aerospace.
GMV will continue with these demonstrations in other countries of Eastern Europe. The next trip in two weeks will be to Romania, where new flights are expected to be just as successful.
The new version 2.0 of the European Commission’s EGNOS SDD (Open Service Definition Document) reflects recent improvements implemented for the EGNOS service. The document shows significant improvements in the geographic coverage of the EGNOS Open Service as can be seen from the map on this site.
The update is of particular interest to receiver manufacturers, GNSS applications developers and users.
EGNOS is the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service and is the European Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) that complements the GPS system by improving the accuracy and providing integrity for the signal.
Both European businesses and citizens are benefiting from EGNOS. It can support new applications in many different sectors such as agriculture (for high-precision spraying of fertilisers) or transport (enabling automatic road-tolling or pay-per-use insurance schemes). EGNOS can also support much more precise personal navigation services, both for general and specific uses.
OS for Improved Accuracy, EDAS for Further Enhancement, Integrity Data
EGNOS availability over Europe, as a precursor of Galileo globally, provides a guaranteed level of positioning accuracy in real time, for tracking vehicles transporting hazardous material. The EGNOS Open Service enhances position accuracy compared to GPS-only. The EGNOS Data Access Service further enhances accuracy and indicates the quality of the position data received from GPS. As a result of the SCUTUM project, EGNOS is now used in the operational transport of dangerous goods by road in Europe.
By Antonella Di Fazio, Daniele Bettinelli, and Kyle O’Keefe
The road sector is among the largest markets for GNSS applications, not only in automotive mass-market but also in professional applications such as freight transport and logistics. Carrying goods by road naturally involves the risk of traffic accidents. If the goods are dangerous, there is also the risk of incidents, such as hazardous spills, fire, explosion, chemical burn, or environmental damage. The many different kinds of authorities and operators active in the field have safety as a primary concern and make continuous efforts in this regard. To ensure that such transport continues being profitable and logistically effective, emphasis is placed on the quality and condition of infrastructure, on transport safety, and on supervision and control.
Technology’s role, particularly that of GNSS, is to provide the capability of supervision and surveillance, and thus enable better incident management and proactive prevention of accidents, while enhancing work. Use of GNSS combined with sensors and wireless devices has rapidly increased to enable continuous tracking and tracing services. GNSS-tracking devices installed on board vehicles ensure that the position, the date and time, the speed and the course, and any deviation with respect to a predefined path (coordinates and time) are transmitted automatically to a monitoring center. Combined with sensors, such devices send positioning information and the critical status parameters of the material (depending on the nature of the transported material and sensor type: identification of the goods/packaging, temperature, pressure, tampering or valve opening, and so on).
At the monitoring center, positions are displayed on digital maps, and regular data reports are processed for:
continuous tracking and tracing,
control of the shipment in a specified route (according to the plan and authorized path),
early warning/alarm when an anomaly condition is detected,
recording and logging for a regular summary of reported incidents, and
informing emergency-response forces for preparation of management arrangements and supporting emergency response plans.
These operations help reduce the possibility of human error during transport, prevent incidents, enforce regulations, and support law enforcement.
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS), augments the GPS signal over Europe and provides more precise positioning services. In addition, it gives users information on the reliability of the GPS signals (integrity data).
EGNOS is designed for safety-critical civil aviation operations. The characteristics of the EGNOS signal are compliant with Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics Minimum Operational Performance Standards (RTCA MOPS) for airborne navigation equipment using the GPS augmented by SBAS. EGNOS also allows multimodal/land transport applications; however, EGNOS optimal use in these applications requires specific customizations for environments not compliant to MOPS.
The majority of receivers available on the market and integrated in operational devices are EGNOS-enabled. EGNOS provides two services suitable for multimodal/land transport applications:
EGNOS Open Service (OS) is made available to users equipped with GPS/EGNOS receivers, via the satellites’ Signal in Space (SiS).
EGNOS Data Access Service (EDAS) consists of a server that gets the data directly from EGNOS and distributes it in real time to professional users via terrestrial networks, within guaranteed delay, security, and performance.
Software solutions and technologies capable of using EDAS and able to deliver added-value services for road applications have been developed in various European projects in the past several years, have been extensively proven in real life, and are presently ready for operational use. During the last seven years, capitalizing on the efforts of national/European projects and company investments, Telespazio has developed LoCation Server (LCS) navigation software based on a patented algorithm, suitable for combined use of EGNOS OS/EDAS in road applications. LCS makes use of EDAS to augment EGNOS OS performance by:
improving the availability of EGNOS OS, since EGNOS SBAS corrections are made available to users through terrestrial networks and thus also in the cases of poor SiS visibility or complete absence;
enhancing EGNOS OS position accuracy using the patented software navigation solution to implement EGNOS SBAS corrections; and
processing EGNOS integrity information to compute the protection levels that give a qualification and a level of confidence in the position information. LCS is configured to output horizontal protection level (HPL) and vertical protection level (VPL).
Between October 2010 and November 2011, the European project SeCUring the EU GNSS adopTion in the dangeroUs Material transport (SCUTUM) conducted an extensive trial campaign in various road environments (urban and extra-urban) and real operation scenarios, to assess the performances of EGNOS OS and EDAS in comparison with GPS-only. SCUTUM trials were carried out with GPS/EGNOS receivers available on the market for automotive applications.
Analysis of the data collected during the trials shows that EGNOS OS enhances GPS position accuracy by 3 meters in road environments (see Figure 1). EDAS via LCS enables improvements over EGNOS OS by increasing the availability of SBAS corrections, further enhancing GPS position accuracy. Moreover, it affords the possibility of qualifying and guaranteeing GPS position information by exploiting EGNOS integrity and computing the protection levels.
Figure 1A. The green line indicates the reference trajectory; the position obtained by using EDAS with LCS (yellow dot) is more accurate with respect to the position obtained by using EGNOS OS (red dot) and the position obtained by using GPS only (blue dot).Figure 1B. A snapshot displaying the HPL computed by using EDAS with LCS.
SCUTUM Goods Tracking
Funded by the European Commission and managed by the European GNSS Agency (GSA), SCUTUM is the European best practice for the operational adoption of EGNOS in the transport of dangerous goods. An Italian oil company, eni, has had the opportunity to prove EGNOS added value compared to GPS alone, and to validate the relevant operational benefits in terms of higher safety and efficiency. The company adopted EGNOS to track and trace its operational fleet transporting dangerous goods throughout Europe. At the end of SCUTUM’s project timeline in November 2011, more than 300 eni tankers transporting hydrocarbon and chemical products in seven European countries were monitored with EGNOS. Today eni plans to gradually extend the use of EGNOS to the transport of chemicals and aviation products, and to further European countries.
Sensors installed on the trailer to record load status.OBU on the tanker integrating a GPS/EGNOS receiver.
The tankers (see opening photo) are equipped with GPS/EGNOS tracking devices, consisting of a set of sensors installed on the trailer to record the status of the loads. The sensors are connected to an onboard unit (OBU) installed on the truck that integrates a GPS/EGNOS receiver configured to use EGNOS OS. The OBU collects measurements from the sensors, detects information on the vehicle’s parameters, measures the GPS/EGNOS position, and sends this set of data via a GPRS link to a remote monitoring platform (the transport integrated platform, or TIP) enhanced by LCS to use EDAS. The TIP receives the data from LCS, that is, EGNOS positions (corrected by EGNOS OS if available or corrected by EDAS), the relevant HPL and VPL, and visualizes them as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Operational tanker remotely monitored at the TIP by EDAS via LCS.
LCS for EDAS Services
LCS consists of several software modules, among them a module connecting to EDAS to get EGNOS data, and a module implementing the navigation solution by means of the Telespazio algorithm.
LCS makes use of EGNOS SBAS messages plus GPS ephemerides received in real time from EDAS (using Service Level 1), the positions (GPS or EGNOS OS positions when available) and time, and raw GPS measurements (code ranges) from the GPS/EGNOS receiver integrated in the OBU.
LCS calculates and returns EGNOS corrected positions (also in case of lack of SiS visibility) and the relevant protection levels obtained by processing the EGNOS integrity message. The HPL/VPL give a guarantee of the position information from the GPS/EGNOS receiver, as they qualify the reliability of position information and provide a measure of the confidence of the reliability.
If the position data from the OBU is not corrected with EGNOS OS (via the SiS), LCS uses the SBAS messages plus the GPS ephemerides, calculates and applies SBAS corrections, then calculates HPL/VPL. If the position data from the OBU is corrected with EGNOS OS (via the SiS), LCS returns only the HPL/VPL.
For remote monitoring of transported dangerous goods, the features provided by EDAS via LCS (better accuracy, higher confidence on the position, enhanced availability) are considered valuable by eni, as they enable tracking tankers more precisely and reliably along delivery routes, and also from bay to bay (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Accurate remote monitoring of a tanker in a bay area.
At the OBU, the positions are combined with other collected parameters, such as speed, engine parameters, driving parameters, loading/unloading the product on the vehicle, quantity of goods on the vehicle, product temperature and pressure, opening/closing bottom valves and manholes, opening/closing loading station. The information is sent to the TIP and visualized to the local operator, and also forwarded to the eni emergency room (shown in Figure 4) that is connected to the fire brigades and civil-protection emergency centers.
Figure 4. eni emergency room.
In an abnormal situation, such as the vehicle deviating from its planned path or being located in a dangerous/sensitive area, the local operator raises a warning and establishes a contact with the driver. If an accident occurs, an alarm is generated also at the eni emergency room responsible for emergency management and coordinating search-and-rescue operations with the proper public entities. The information is also used to keep the involved transport operator and eni’s customers informed.
Additionally, this information is stored for law enforcement and prevention purposes. Position data and parameters are analyzed to produce statistics and study cases of near-miss accidents.
Benefits generated from EGNOS lie primarily in the capability to implement more accurate risk management and to strengthen safety and prevention. The higher precision with respect to GPS alone and the location achieved by using EDAS via LCS ensure more accurate and reliable monitoring of operations in normal and critical situations, and thus are valuable for commercial purposes and safety reasons. Moreover, eni considers the position guarantee given by the protection levels useful for research on accident prevention.
Multipath-Mitigation Algorithm in LCS
SCUTUM also implemented and tested a multipath-mitigation algorithm used to enhance LCS, to further mitigate the effects of code multipath, typical of land applications. Developed in cooperation with the University of Calgary, the algorithm is based on a fault detection and exclusion (FDE) method and is designed to ensure that biased/multipath-affected observations do not contaminate the navigation solution.
As SCUTUM deals with a road transport application, the assessment targeted the HPL only. The algorithm is based on a statistical-empirical concept combining:
an FDE procedure using a statistical reliability method for the detection and removal of code-range observations corrupted by multipath; and
a field-testing procedure using the receiver under study and a geodetic-quality receiver to produce a reference trajectory.
The FDE procedure consists of sequential steps:
Computation of the navigation solution by means of a least-squares solution to obtain the calculated position, the HPL, and the residuals;
Reliability testing on the residuals, to detect the outliers (observations that contain biases and thus are considered measurements affected by multipath errors);
Exclusion of the detected outliers and re-computation of the navigation solution;
Iteration of the steps. In each iteration, the observation with the largest residual flagged as an outliner is removed.
The procedure ends once no further outliers are isolated, or the number of remaining observations is less or equal to five, or several special-case conditions occur. Outlier detection is done on the basis of a rejection threshold on the standardized residual. This rejection threshold is a parameter of the multipath-mitigation algorithm and is tuned by means of the field-test results. Additionally the multipath-mitigation algorithm behavior is a function of other parameters that depend on various factors, including satellite elevation, signal strength, and overall satellite geometry.
Field Trials
SCUTUM field trials covered several environmental conditions and LCS configurations. Tests were performed in a wide range of Italian urban and extra-urban road environments. They considered five different typical driving environments (Table 1), corresponding to different levels of GPS and EGNOS signal availability and multipath, and various vehicle speeds and dynamic characteristics, with the objective of testing the robustness of LCS’s navigation solution.
TABLE 1. SCUTUM field trials driving environments.
From a physical point of view, the presence of natural and/or artificial obstacles could lead to lack of GPS and SBAS signals, worse satellite geometry, and introduction of additional errors in the measurements due to multipath propagation effects. Urban canyons are particularly prone to such effects, although they occur also in other cases depending on the topographic characteristics of the environment. For these reasons, the trials covered all possible environments traveled by LCS users, to provide a complete technical and business analysis for each operational condition.
To accurately indentify the appropriate driving environment, trial paths were matched on clutter maps categorizing the different driving environments (as shown in Figure 5 in the example of a trial path in Rome).
Figure 5. Method for driving environment identification by means of a clutter map.
A reference trajectory, hereafter called the true path, was calculated in post-processing, through a kinematic differential GPS method, by using GPS L1 and L2 carrier-phase measurements, combined with inertial navigation system (INS) measurements.
The differential GPS L1 and L2 carrier measurements were collected with a reference receiver installed near each test location, at an inter-receiver distance not exceeding 20 kilometers. The reference receiver was geo-referenced via a dedicated GPS network solution (based on a continuous collection campaign of at least two days’ data). The combination with INS targets smooth trajectories free from jumps, even in difficult GPS environments.
The tests ran on two identical OBUs, one GPS-only and one using GPS+EGNOS. The two OBUs and the GPS/INS system were installed in a test vehicle (Figure 6) and connected to a standard GPS patch antenna for automotive applications. Two pairs of OBUs were used (Figure 7).
Figure 6. GPS/INS system installed in the vehicle.Figure 7. OBUs in test vehicle.
Test Results
The trials collected these data sets:
Raw measurements from the GPS/INS system;
Positions and raw measurements from the two OBUs, GPS and GPS+EGNOS respectively.
As mentioned, positions and raw measurements from the GPS OBU were processed by LCS’s navigation solution in three configurations:
LCS baseline, running the baseline multipath mitigation method (based on the proprietary patented algorithm);
LCS enhanced, applying the multipath-mitigation algorithm with default settings of several parameters;
LCS enhanced and tuned, applying the multipath-mitigation algorithm with tuned parameters. The tuning was obtained by applying the combined statistical-empirical concept described earlier.
Data collected during the field trials was analyzed in terms of:
average values for the horizontal navigation system error (HNSE) that is the horizontal difference of the OBU position with respect to the reference trajectory;
average values for the HPL that gives an indication of the confidence/guarantee of the position above mentioned; and
the availability of the processing of LCS’s navigation solution.
Test data was analyzed with both commercial and freely available software packages. Table 2 reports the performances of LCS in its baseline configuration for each driving environment. Table 3 reports the performances of LCS by means of the multipath-mitigation algorithm with different tunings for extra-urban and urban environments.
TABLE 2. Performances of LCS baseline for driving environments.TABLE 3. Performances of LCS enhanced by multipath mitigation algorithm with different tunings.
The results show that for the road environments tested, LCS baseline performs better than statistical FDE.
From these results, an interesting conclusion can be drawn: in the road environments tested, a traditional FDE approach is not as effective as would be expected. Specifically, the removal of observations with large residuals resulted in larger overall position errors, both before and after attempting to estimate a larger observation variance than normally used for GPS. The reason for this is that in urban environments and extra-urban road environments there is significant multipath, corrupting many observations at the same time that the number of available observations is low. The conclusion is that on average, in the environments tests, it is better to leave small, but still statistically detectable errors in the solution than to remove them and degrade the solution geometry.
The fault-detection approach will be more appropriate in a multi-constellation GNSS, and in particular in the future when Galileo satellites can be used in conjunction with GPS, resulting approximately double the satellite availability in all environments.
Table 4 summarizes average performances for GPS+EDAS using LCS baseline compared with those of the GPS-only and GPS+EGNOS.
TABLE 4. Average performances of GPS+EDAS by means of “LCS baseline” in comparison with GPS-only and GPS+EGNOS OS.
Workshop Agreement
SCUTUM also carried out a European Committee for Standardization (CEN) workshop that elaborated the CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) 16390:2012, Interface control document for provision of EDAS-based services for tracking and tracing of the transport of goods, that is, the technical specification for development of EDAS-based products and applications.
CWA 16390 specifies:
the data (and relevant format) needed from the GPS/EGNOS receivers by the software solutions connected to EDAS, to enable the implementation of products and added value services; and
the type/format of the added value services produced by the software solutions (EDAS-based services).
The technical specification defined in CWA 16390 is architecture/technology-independent and flexible, so as to:
cope with different architectures (for example, those envisaging software solutions running in the monitoring platforms or in the OBUs); and
ensure its applicability in ITS systems and various mobility applications.
CWA 16390 was endorsed by several European stakeholders from industry, institutions, and the research sector. The Ministries of Transport in Italy and France, partners in the SCUTUM project, validated it as part of a shared vision for EGNOS adoption and exploitation. Italy’s Ministry of Transport is presently carrying out the possible evolution of CWA 16390 into an Italian standard.
Conclusions
SCUTUM represents the first step towards a larger use of EGNOS in Europe for the provision of services for road applications, and opens the market for Galileo. Its key findings are that EGNOS OS generally enhances the position measured using GPS-only in all extra-urban and urban environments. EDAS generally provides further enhancements, and also gives an indication of the quality of the position data received from the GPS.
LCS is a plug-in solution that enables easy retrofitting of existing GPS systems to use EGNOS, but optimized for road applications. By integrating it in tracking and tracing monitoring platforms and configuring the vehicle-installed OBUs, LCS enhances GPS position accuracy by approximately 4 meters and provides a level of confidence in the position information in the form of an HPL and a VPL. LCS will also improve GPS/Galileo integrated solutions when Galileo is operational. Its navigation solution will be more robust with Galileo and in general with multiple constellations, thanks to the availability of more satellites in view.
Manufacturers
A NovAtel FLEXG2-V2-L1L2 served as GPS reference with a NovAtel dual-frequency GPS-702GG antenna. An Oxford Technical Solutions RT2002 dual-frequency GPS/INS system served as rover. The two OBUs integrated a u-blox 5 GPS/EGNOS receiver. In its present configuration, LCS is connected to a dedicated GPS/EGNOS receiver, NovAtel ProPak-V3-L1 acting as EDAS back-up for robustness reasons.
Antonella Di Fazio works in the GNSS Infomobility Business Unit of Telespazio, in charge of innovative applications and services and program and technical coordinator of European R&D projects, devoted to the use of EGNOS/Galileo.
Daniele Bettinelli works in the GNSS Infomobility Business Unit of Telespazio, in charge of the specification, design and development of services based on EGNOS and EDAS, in particular for land applications.
Kyle O’Keefe is an associate professor in the Position, Location And Navigation (PLAN) group of the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary.
Experts ensuring that aircraft can safely rely on satellite navigation across Europe and other parts of the globe met last week to share future plans, welcoming Russian and Indian representatives for the first time, reports the European Space Agency. More and more aircraft around the globe are using satnav augmentation, with special infrastructure sharpening signal accuracy and reliability across given geographical regions.
More than 50 specialists who oversee the world’s five regional satnav augmentation systems met in Toulouse, France, January 24-25 for the latest meeting of the Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) Interoperability Working Group (IWG). The gathering was the first to be attended by Russia’s space agency and the Indian Bureau of Civil Aviation, to discuss their own SBAS systems.
The meeting was jointly hosted by ESA’s European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) and SBAS Division with the French space agency, CNES.
Satellite augmentation systems provide ground monitoring stations and satellite transponders to sharpen satnav accuracy and reliability across geographical regions. The resulting accuracy improvements, together with information on integrity, renders satnav suitable for the vertical (as well as horizontal) guidance of aircraft and a range of other precision applications.
Today, there are three certified SBAS operational worldwide: Europe has EGNOS, designed and developed by ESA, operated by the European Satellite Service Provider and owned by the European Commission. EGNOS was made available for general users in 2009 and for aircraft landing approaches since March 2011.
The U.S. has the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), developed and operated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with an extension over Canada called CWAAS (Canadian WAAS). Japan has the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), developed and operated by Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau.
Two more systems are being developed for future certification by the International Civil Aviation Authority: Russia’s System of Differential Correction and Monitoring (SDCM), under development by Roscosmos, and India’s GPS and Geo-Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system, under development by Indian Civil Aviation and India’s ISRO space agency.
Representatives of these five systems were joined at this 24th IWG meeting by international organisations including Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. Current combined SBAS coverage.
According to tracking data from stations of the International GNSS Service’s Multi-GNSS Experiment, the second Russian Luch satellite, Luch-5B, started transmitting GLONASS and GPS differential corrections on January 17, 2013, at around 11:07 UTC.
Luch-5B, launched on November 2, 2012, carries a transponder for the System for Differential Correction and Monitoring satellite-based augmentation system. The satellite, occupying an orbital slot at 16 degrees west, uses PRN code 125. Transmission tests are not continuous.
The second Russian SBAS satellite, Luch-5B, has now been positioned at its designated orbital slot of 16 degrees west longitude. The satellite had been in a drift orbit since its launch on November 2 at 21:04:00 UTC along with the domestic communications satellite Yamal-300K.
Tracking data from NORAD/JSpOC showed Luch-5B arriving at its geostationary position by about December 13. The footprint of the satellite is shown below with the elevation-angle contours at 30-degree intervals.
GPS III SATELLITE, artist’s rendering, courtesy Lockheed Martin.
Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin successfully completed the first launch readiness exercise for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation GPS III satellites. The exercise is a key milestone demonstrating the team remains on schedule to achieve launch availability in 2014, the companies said.
The Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellites and the Raytheon-developed next generation GPS operational control system, known as OCX, are critical elements of the U.S. Air Force’s effort to affordably replace aging GPS satellites while improving capability to meet the evolving demands of military, commercial and civilian users worldwide. This is the first space and ground enterprise successfully building the ground control and space vehicles by two independent prime contractors.
The launch readiness exercise, completed over a three-day period by mission operations personnel, validated the basic satellite command and control functions, tested the software and hardware interfaces and demonstrated basic on-console procedures required for space vehicle contacts during the launch and early orbit mission. The event sets the stage for the first GPS III satellite’s mission readiness timeline, which includes five short-duration exercises and six, five-day mission rehearsals leading up tolaunch.
To achieve first launch availability in the 2014 timeframe, the U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin and Raytheon contracts in January of this year to provide a Launch and Checkout Capability (LCC) for launch and early on-orbit testing of all GPS III satellites. At the heart of the LCC is Raytheon’s Launch and Checkout System that will provide satellite command and control capability, an integral part of OCX’s support of the first GPS III launch.
Rockets on the Pad
As this magazine goes to press on September 17, several GNSS satellite launches are pending, and may have already occurred by the time you read this. Launch dates this fall for GNSS satellites in the coming season are as follows, according to various, not always official, sources. Compilation courtesy of CANSPACE.
Compass M2 and M5. September 18, 18:12 UTC (speculative).
GSAT-10. Carrying a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) transponder for the GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation system (GAGAN), a planned implementation of a regional SBAS by the Indian government: September 21.
Compass G6. No earlier than October 1.
GPS IIF-3. October 4. Launch window: 12:10-12:29 UTC.
Galileo IOV FM3 and FM4. October 10, 18:31 UTC.
Luch-5B. For the Russian SBAS. Originally scheduled for October 15, launch has slipped to no earlier than November 1 due to an issue with the Briz-M upper stage, which caused the loss of the Telkom-3 and Ekspress-MD2 communication satellites during their launch on August 6.
GLONASS-K1 (block K2s). November 14.
The fourth Galileo flight model satellite is unloaded at Cayenne Airport in French Guiana August 17. (ESA/EADS Astrium, Raoul Kieffer)
Javad Ashjaee, founder and CEO of JAVAD GNSS, filed a September 7 letter with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concerning his company’s development of technical possibilities in GNSS filter designs and components. He stated “I hope this will be helpful in establishing realistic guidelines for the characteristics of high-precision GNSS receivers that will be used in critical applications.”
The letter reads, in part:
“We have improved our previous L1 filter and have extended the design to include all commercial GNSS bands.”
“Our filter . . . protects GPS L1, Galileo L1 and GLONASS L1 bands. It brings in all the useful signals intact and rejects out of band signals with the slope of about 12 dB/Mhz. Similarly . . . our filter . . . . protects GPS L2, GPS L5, GLONASS L2 and Galileo L5 and has slope of about 9 dB/Mhz.
“These filters not only protect GNSS signals against all LightSquared signals (10L, 10H and 10R handsets) but also from all similar signals that may appear near all commercial GNSS bands in the future. We are proud that our filters help allow better usage of these precious bands, in particular for broadband wireless communication that our country desperately needs.
“These filters apply to wideband high precision GNSS receivers and the cost is even less than earlier conventional filters. The case of narrow-band low precision receivers (e.g. Garmin) is much simpler, as has been demonstrated by GPS receivers in more than 300 million cell phones and mobile devices which are not affected by LightSquared signals. The low precision receivers (L1 C/A code only) require filter slopes 10 times less steep than those presented here and do not necessitate additional costs.”
Galileo Headquarters Moves to Prague
On September 6, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) inaugurated its new premises in Prague, Czech Republic. Previously headquartered in Brussels, the headquarters of the Galileo program moved its seat to Prague this summer, as agreed by the EU heads of state and government in December 2010.
Galileo is expected to be partly operational by the end of 2014. Two in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites will be launched in October, bringing the total in space to four, sufficient for initial check-outs. Beginning in 2013, four more Galileo satellites will be launched every six months until the network of 30 is completed in 2020.
GSA ensures security of satellites and prepares ground for new GNSS products. The agency is responsible for a number of implementation tasks for the European Satellite Navigation programmes Galileo and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), which are managed by the European Commission. Its two main tasks are:
Security accreditation of satellites, launchers, and sites, and the operation of the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre, and
Market development for the European satellite navigation systems, such as new products and services possible using Internet access to satellite navigation data, among others.
Future Role. A European Commission (EC) proposal for revising the GNSS Regulation foresees that operational responsibility for the GNSS programmes will be gradually transferred from the EC to the GSA over the next multi-annual financial framework (2014-2020). This represents a reversal of an earlier move, or a restoration of a previous state; after delays and budget disputes with manufacturers during the tentative public-private partnership (PPP) phase, the European Commission took direct control of the Galileo program, effectively sidelining the GSA.
The transfer of responsibility will start with EGNOS in 2014, and already a number of preparatory tasks have been allocated to the GSA, including the procurement for the future operations of EGNOS.
To carry out these new functions, the GSA’s staff is expected to increase from about 60 today to more than 180 by the end of next financial framework in 2020.
Budget. The GSA has an annual budget of about €12.75 million ($16.75 million) in 2012, plus €34.4 million ($45 million) for exploitation activities.
According to European Commission calculations, a total budget of € 7 billion ($9.2 billion) is necessary to complete the deployment phase of the Galileo programmes and finance the exploitation phase of the GNSS programmes over the 2014-2020 period.
Compass Energizes China’s Economy
China’s Beidou/Compass system will spur the country’s economic development in the satellite-navigation industry, geoinformation, and location-based services, according to an article in China Daily. China’s civil navigation providers are likely to experience rapid growth during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) period.
The deputy director-general of the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation said the government is likely to introduce policies to help the geoinformation industry grow.
“In addition, the nation’s self-developed satellite navigation network, the Beidou Navigation System, will come into commercial use by the end of this year, a move that may stimulate the development of the geoinformation industry in China.”
Aviation NextGen May Show Slow ROI
An inspector from the U.S. Department of Transportation testified in Congress that benefits from the GPS-based air traffic control system Next Gen may take longer to realize than had been expected. Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has improved its management of the modernization program, years of delays and cost over-runs have left airlines dragging their feet in turn over multibillion-dollar equipment upgrades needed for the new system to work.
The inspector stated the investment will be worth the taxpayer cost in the long run, and will produce significant safety and scheduling benefits. U.S. air travel is expected to nearly double over the next two decades, bringing an unbearable burden onto the current air traffic control system, if not significantly upgraded.
By 2020, the new system is expected to reduce delays by 38 percent compared with the current system; airlines, passengers, and taxpayers are estimated tosave $24 billion.
The FAA plans to spend $2.4 billion over the next five years on a collection of six programs evolving from an outdated, radar-based system to one that uses GPS and telecommunications advances for precision tracking, making routes more direct, eliminating many weather delays, and enabling planes to fly safely at closer distances. Once fully in place, the modernization program will save 1.4 billion gallons of fuel and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 14 million metric tons, the FAA says.
However, planes must be equipped with new equipment at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars per aircraft. NextGen doesn’t start yielding full benefits until a critical mass of planes have the new technology.
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s GSAT-10 geostationary communications satellite was launched from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 28 September at 21:18 UTC. The dual-satellite launch also carried the Astra 2F direct-to-home broadcast satellite into orbit for Luxembourg-based operator SES.
GSAT-10 contains a payload to support the Indian GPS and GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) satellite-based augmentation system. The satellite will likely use PRN code 128 from its orbital slot at 83 degrees east longitude.
NORAD/JSpOC is tracking four objects from the launch, all in geostationary transfer orbits:
The two satellites are accompanied by the Sylda 5 dual-payload adapter and the ESC-A upper stage of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. It’s not yet known which objects are which.
Once GSAT-10’s GAGAN L-band payload is activated, the satellite will be tracked by stations of the International GNSS Service’s Multi-GNSS Experiment in addition to those of the official GAGAN monitoring and control network.
The following is from a press release issued by ISRO:
“ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) took over the command and control of the GSAT-10 immediately after the injection. Preliminary health checks on the various subsystems of the satellite, namely, Power, Thermal, Command, Sensors, Controls, etc., were performed and all the parameters were found satisfactory. Following this, the satellite was oriented towards the Earth and the Sun using the onboard propulsion system. The satellite is in good health.
“In the coming five days, orbit raising maneuvers will be performed to place the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit with required inclination with reference to the equator. The satellite will be moved to the Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) by using the satellite propulsion system in a three step approach.
“After the completion of orbit raising operations, the two solar panels and both the dual gridded antenna reflectors of GSAT-10 will be deployed for further tests and operations. It is planned to experimentally turn on the communication payloads in the second week of October 2012.
“After the successful completion of all in-orbit tests, GSAT-10 will be ready for operational use by November 2012. GSAT-10 will be positioned at 83deg East orbital location along with INSAT-4A and GSAT-12. The operational life of GSAT-10 is expected to be 15 years nominal.
“GSAT-10 Satellite has 30 Communication Transponders [12 in Ku-band, 12 in C-band and 6 in Extended C-Band]. Besides, it has a Navigation payload “GAGAN” that would provide GPS signals of improved accuracy (of better than 7 meters) to be used by the Airports Authority of India for Civil Aviation requirements. GSAT-10 is the second satellite in INSAT/GSAT constellation with GAGAN payload after GSAT-8, launched in May 2011.”
Launch dates this fall for GNSS satellites are as follows, according to various sources:
Compass M2 and M5: September 18, 18:12 UTC (speculative); Compass G6: No earlier than October 1.
GSAT-10 (includes a GAGAN SBAS transponder): September 21.
GPS IIF-3: October 4, 2012. Launch window: 12:10-12:29 UTC.
Galileo IOV FM3 and FM4: October 10, 18:31 UTC.
Luch-5B: Originally scheduled for October 15, launch has slipped to no earlier than November 1 due to an issue with the “Briz-M” upper stage, which caused the loss of the Telkom-3 and Ekspress-MD2 communication satellites during their launch on August 6.
India’s GSAT-10 telecommunications satellite — one of two passengers for Arianespace’s upcoming Ariane 5 mission in September — has been put through its paces during pre-flight preparations at the Spaceport in French Guiana, including a solar panel deployment test, according to Arianespace.
Also aboard GSAT-10 is the GAGAN (GPS and GEO augmented navigation) payload, which will support the Indian government’s implementation of a satellite-based regional capability to assist aircraft navigation over Indian airspace and in adjoining areas. The initial GAGAN payload was carried aboard the GSAT-8 spacecraft, orbited by Arianespace on an Ariane 5 mission in May 2011.
The solar panel checkout involved the extension of its multi-segment solar panels, validating the proper operation before they are definitively stowed against the satellite in the final lift-off configuration. The test uses an overhead latticework that helps support the solar panel’s weight — simulating zero gravity conditions of space as the panel opens to its full length.
Performed under the control of GSAT-10 satellite team members, the extension validation was conducted in the S5C high bay area of the Spaceport’s S5 payload preparation center — the largest individual hall in this facility.
GSAT-10 was developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and will meet the growing need for Ku- and C-band transponder capacity. It is to become part of the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system of geostationary spacecraft — representing one of the largest domestic communications satellite networks in the Asia-Pacific region.
Configured with 12 Ku-band, 12 C-band and 12 extended C-band transponders, GSAT-10 utilizes the I-3K satellite bus developed by ISRO, with a power capability of some six kilowatts and a liftoff mass estimated at 3,400 kg.
The upcoming Ariane 5 flight with GSAT-10 and the Astra 2F satellite as its co-passenger is set for September 21 from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch
complex. This will be Arianespace’s fifth mission from French Guiana in 2012 with the heavy-lift workhorse.
Below, one of GSAT-10’s two solar panels is extended during deployment verifications performed in the Spaceport’s S5 payload preparation center.
Luch-5B, the second of a set of three geostationary satellites being launched to reactivate Roscosmos’s Luch Multifunctional Space Relay System, has been delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It arrived together with the Yamal-300K satellite in a single shipping container aboard an Antanov An-124-100 Ruslan flight from Krasnoyarsk.
This marked the first time that Information Satellite Systems – Reshetnev has used the special container, which is large enough to carry two middle-class spacecraft at one time. According to the company, sophisticated equipment fitted with a control system that helps monitor the environment inside the container helps avoid any chances of external damage or unwanted environmental impact during transportation.
Luch-5B is now undergoing preparations for launch.
The Luch system will be used to relay communications and telemetry between low-Earth-orbiting spacecraft, such as the the Russian segment of International Space Station, and Russian ground facilities.
The system’s satellites also carry transponders for the System for Differential Correction and Monitoring (SDCM), Russia’s satellite-based augmentation system. The transponders will broadcast GNSS corrections on the standard GPS L1 frequency using C/A PRN codes assigned by DoD’s Global Positioning Systems Directorate.
As previously reported, Luch-5A, which was launched on 11 December 2011, has been placed in an orbital slot at 95 degrees east longitude. It began transmitting corrections on July 12, 2012, using PRN code 140.
Luch-5B, scheduled for launch on September 7, 2012, will be positioned at 16 degrees west longitude.
Satellite Luch-5B in an anechoic chamber at ISS-Reshetnev.
Luch-5B, the second of a set of three geostationary satellites being launched to reactivate Roscosmos’s Luch Multifunctional Space Relay System, has been delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It arrived together with the Yamal-300K satellite in a single shipping container aboard an Antanov An-124-100 Ruslan flight from Krasnoyarsk.
This marked the first time that Information Satellite Systems – Reshetnev has used the special container, which is large enough to carry two middle-class spacecraft at one time. According to the company, sophisticated equipment fitted with a control system that helps monitor the environment inside the container helps avoid any chances of external damage or unwanted environmental impact during transportation.
Luch-5B is now undergoing preparations for launch.
The Luch system will be used to relay communications and telemetry between low-Earth-orbiting spacecraft, such as the the Russian segment of International Space Station, and Russian ground facilities.
The system’s satellites also carry transponders for the System for Differential Correction and Monitoring (SDCM), Russia’s satellite-based augmentation system. The transponders will broadcast GNSS corrections on the standard GPS L1 frequency using C/A PRN codes assigned by DoD’s Global Positioning Systems Directorate.
As previously reported, Luch-5A, which was launched on 11 December 2011, has been placed in an orbital slot at 95 degrees east longitude. It began transmitting corrections on July 12, 2012, using PRN code 140.
Luch-5B, scheduled for launch on September 7, 2012, will be positioned at 16 degrees west longitude.
Satellite Luch-5B in an anechoic chamber at ISS-Reshetnev.
