The newest GPS III satellite arrived at Cape Canaveral, Fla., for its launch this summer, Lockheed Martin, its maker, announced on Wednesday. The satellite, nicknamed “Magellan,” arrived in Cape Canaveral on March 18 aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 plane from Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado. The satellite was built at Lockheed’s GPS III facility near Denver. Magellan will be the second GPS III satellite to be placed in orbit. The launch, expected in […]

Jackson Labs Technologies has announced the latest upgrades to its GPS simulator and transcoder product line. Screenshot: Jackson Labs The latest version of freeware application SimCon rev. 1.20 is now available. New features include: Single-button GPS Week Number Rollover testing to test when GPS receivers will fail (hardly any will fail April 6; most older units will fail sometime between now and 2025). Single-button GPS receiver leap second testing: Some GPS receivers might have an […]

As the first signs of spring begin to emerge from winter in the U.S., we’re reminded that the annual aviation fly-in, airshow and exhibition season follows not too far behind. The longer daylight hours and warmer temperatures mean more flying, and more importantly, more aviation events. We’re kicking off the 2019 season at SUN ’n FUN in Lakeland, Florida, and AERO Friedrichshafen in Germany. SUN ’n FUN International Fly-In and Expo — April 2-7, 2019 […]

The U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center’s Global Positioning Systems Directorate achieved another major program milestone March 19, successfully delivering the second GPS III Space Vehicle to Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida to begin satellite launch processing. “The shipment of this second GPS III satellite is once again an excellent representation of the collaborative effort and increasing efficiencies of SMC’s push towards rapid acquisitions and operations of space technologies,” […]

Acquisition Expands Orolia’s Global Footprint into Canada. Orolia has acquired Skydel Solutions, a GPS/GNSS signal simulation company based in Montreal, Canada. Orolia made the announcement at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Exhibition in Huntsville, Alabama. Orolia is a resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions company and a partner of U.S., NATO and allied forces. The company provides end-to-end resilient PNT solutions, including scalable, modular and cost-effective technology to support PNT-reliant and […]

Our TeamX experimental avionics group introduced new Flight Information Service-Broadcast (FIS-B) weather capabilities to several popular Garmin products. These capabilities are available through the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) ADS-B ground station network in the United States. Pilots can now access this new weather information on the G3X Touch flight display for experimental aircraft and the aera 660 and aera 795/796 portables using Garmin receivers that support ADS-B In.   The introduction of the new FIS-B weather products […]

Russia plans to launch a Glonass-M navigation satellite into orbit in mid-May, local media reported Saturday. “The launch of a Glonass-M navigation satellite has been tentatively planned in mid-May from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome for maintaining the performance of the orbital constellation,” Sputnik news agency quoted a source in the aerospace industry as saying. Currently, the Glonass constellation includes 26 satellites with 22 of them performing their intended navigation functions. However, […]

U.S. manufacturers are eager to take advantage of the added accuracy that Galileo offers. (Image: GSA) News from the European GNSS Agency (GSA) Following a waiver by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of its rules in November 2018, in which it allowed devices in the United States to access signals transmitted by the Galileo Global Navigation System, leading U.S. manufacturers are preparing to roll-out Galileo on U.S. territory. At a meeting on Nov. 15 last […]

We are excited to introduce our GPS 175 and GNX 375 GPS navigators with Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) approach capability. Pilots receive the benefits of high-integrity WAAS/SBAS GPS guidance in a compact, (6.25-inches wide by 2-inches tall) design that is both cost-effective and easy to incorporate into an existing avionics stack. The GPS 175 is a standalone certified IFR navigator with a vibrant, color touchscreen display packed with advanced features and capabilities including […]

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with support from NASA have initiated activities for SERVIR-Amazonia, a five-year effort that will use NASA’s unique observations of Earth to address environmental and development challenges in the Amazon Basin. Operating as a regional hub, SERVIR-Amazonia will help people and institutions use satellite observations and geospatial tools to track environmental changes, evaluate climate threats and rapidly respond to natural disasters. By strengthening the […]