CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. — 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 […]

Few commercial UAV operations would be able to inspect transmissions lines, pipelines or train tracks without beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) capability, but these key pieces of infrastructure often situate close to or transit across population centers. Further, many population centers have airports and low-level air traffic. Any tools to keep drones away from air traffic during BVLOS operations will significantly inspection companies. We review three promising solutions here. Pipeline Inspection Kongsberg Geospatial in Ottawa, Canada […]

I own a pro shop, and I like to help customers get aligned. How do I do that? Every archer is different, and different face or grip pressure can make the reticle appear differently to different people. To get them most of the way there, look through their peep and get the sight “rough” dialed until the pin is floating around the reticle circle. Then, help the customer fine-tune the reticle/ranging pin alignment from there. […]

Guinness World Records have independently certified an astrolabe excavated from the wreck site of a Portuguese Armada Ship that was part of Vasco da Gama’s second voyage to India in 1502-1503 as the oldest in the world, and have separately certified a ship’s bell (dated 1498) recovered from the same wreck site also as the oldest in the world. The scientific process of verifying the disc as an astrolabe by laser imaging […]

Photo: NovAtel NovAtel’s Waypoint Products Group has released version 8.80 of its GNSS and GNSS+INS post-processing software products, including Inertial Explorer, Inertial Explorer Xpress, GrafNav and GrafNet. All Waypoint customers with an active subscription that are within the support period qualify for the Waypoint 8.80 upgrade at no additional charge. Key features of the 8.80 release include:• High-rate precise satellite orbit and clock corrections available in minutes with the TerraStar-NRT option• Increased accuracy for pedestrian and vehicle […]

Garmin International, Inc. today announced that it received the prestigious Supplier of the Year distinction from the Independent Boat Builders, Inc. (IBBI), the industry’s largest purchasing cooperative comprised of a 19-member network of leading boat brands that collectively build nearly 25% of all boats sold in the U.S. The IBBI Supplier of the Year award recognizes one company’s outstanding service and dedication to its member network. Garmin has been a supplier of choice for the […]

As a risk reduction effort for the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III Follow On (GPS IIIF) satellite program, Frequency Electronics, Inc. (NASDAQ-FEIM) received a contract from Lockheed Martin Space, valued at $5.9 million, for the qualification of FEI’s Digital Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard (DRAFS). The contract’s intent is to qualify FEI’s DRAFS for potential use on the new GPS IIIF satellites, securing the industrial base for high-accuracy Global Positioning System atomic clocks. […]

Photo: GSC/GSA Responsibility for in-depth troubleshooting and problem resolution of the GSC Ground Infrastructure has been transferred from a European GNSS Agency (GSA)-held European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) infrastructure contract to Spaceopal and its core team member DLR GfR, responsible in the Galileo Service Operator (GSOp) industrial organization also for L2/L3 maintenance activity. This contract extends for 10 years. The transfer occurred after Spaceopal successfully passed the Maintenance Handover Review (MHOR) for the Level 2 and […]

Our latest version of Garmin Pilot — version 9.6 —  includes an expanded feature set designed to increase  integration with FltPlan.com, and provide pilots with additional information about their destination airport prior to flight, en route, or upon arrival. New to version 9.6, pilots can seamlessly synchronize flight plans between Garmin Pilot and FltPlan.com. The upgrade also includes AOPA FBO fees, flight data log exceedances, along with enhancements to split screen capability, runway centerlines and user […]

Scientists in the Emergent Photonics Lab (EPic Lab) at the University of Sussex have made a breakthrough to a crucial element of an atomic clock – devices which could reduce our reliance on satellite mapping in the future – using cutting-edge laser beam technology. Their development greatly improves the efficiency of the lancet (which in a traditional clock is responsible for counting), by 80% – something which scientists around the world have been racing […]