The United States Space Force (USSF) and the Space and the Missile Systems Center achieved another major Global Positioning System (GPS) milestone on July 27 when the GPS III Space Vehicle (SV) 03 received USSF’s Operational Acceptance approval. The GPS III satellites are the newest generation built by Lockheed Martin that provide precise positioning, navigation and timing information with three times better accuracy, and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capability than […]

Download the report. A new study for the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) reviews and validates airport surveys from a safety perspective. The study, “Protecting Against Airport Obstructions: Socio-Economic Study of the NGS Aeronautical Survey Program,” is by Irv Leveson and the staff of ARCBridge Consulting and Training Inc. Goals of the scoping study are to: provide a better understanding of the activity, uses, users and broader beneficiaries of the National Geodetic Survey’s Aeronautical Survey Program, help […]

August 14, 2020 At any given time, the dispatcher at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge can monitor where certain guides and helicopters are located while in the field. Given that the lodge is only accessible by a 40-minute bush plane flight from Anchorage and offers some of the most remote adventures in the country, that’s pretty important. The luxury adventure lodge in the heart of Alaska’s Tordrillo Range was dreamed up more than 20 years ago by […]

The Navigation Technology Satellite – 3 (NTS-3) spacecraft passed Critical Design Review (CDR) on June 25, a major milestone, allowing L3Harris, the prime contractor for the spacecraft, to proceed into fabrication, demonstration, and test. In partnership with the Space and Missile Systems Center, United States Space Force, and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) will demonstrate revolutionary space-based position, navigation, and timing (PNT) techniques and […]

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is asking for ideas on what technology to research to protect GPS. The research and development dollars are earmarked for projects that minimize or eliminate disruption to critical infrastructure from intentional and unintentional interference. The “Notice of Request for Information on Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Resilience” was issued Aug. 10 in the Federal Register. The office is seeking input “from all interested parties on the development […]

Space and Missile Systems Center Public Affairs / Published August 10, 2020 Space and Missile Systems Center Public Affairs — The United States Space Force (USSF) and the Space and the Missile Systems Center achieved another major Global Positioning System (GPS) milestone on July 27 when the GPS III Space Vehicle (SV) 03 received USSF’s Operational Acceptance approval. The GPS III satellites are the newest generation built by Lockheed Martin that provide precise […]

The United States Space Force (USSF) and the Space and the Missile Systems Center achieved another major GPS milestone on July 27 when the GPS III Space Vehicle (SV) 03 received USSF’s Operational Acceptance approval. This marks the third GPS III satellite to receive operational acceptance in less than a year. GPS III SV-03 satellite packed prior to shipment to Cape Canaveral. (Photo: Lockheed Martin) The GPS III satellites are the newest generation built by […]

Designers of China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System will keep upgrading software on Beidou satellites to improve their capabilities and maintain technological advantages, according to a key figure in this program. Lin Baojun, a chief designer of Beidou’s third-generation satellite, said at a news conference in Beijing on Monday that once a satellite is launched, it is virtually impossible for its hardware to be modified, so designers and engineers need to optimize its […]

Photo: PhonlamaiPhoto/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded $3.3 million in research, education and training grants to universities that comprise the FAA’s Air Transportation Center of Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, also known as the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE). “These grants will help develop a greater array of innovative strategies to more effectively deploy drones during emergency response situations,” said U.S. Transportation […]

Although launched more than one month ago, the official operation of the 55th and last satellite of the Beidou-3 Navigation Satellite System was formally announced by President Xi Jinping at a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday. Which makes the BDS system one of the four global navigation systems providing global navigation and positioning services; the other three are the United States’ GPS, Russia’s Glonass-M and […]