“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.

Tracking down criminals

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In Deschutes County, Oregon, a sheriff’s deputy used a GPS-based tracker to tag a stolen pickup truck, leading to the arrest of a suspect who tried to evade a traffic stop. After a short pursuit, the deputy tagged the vehicle using a StarChase device, which can fire a GPS-based tracking device from a law enforcement vehicle to attach to a suspect’s vehicle. The truck was tracked, and the suspect was apprehended.

UAVs advance medicine delivery

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Wing and Apian have partnered with Blackrock Health and St. Vincent’s Private Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, along with healthcare technology company Medtronic, to launch a UAV delivery trial for medical supplies and devices. The delivery service will include Medtronic’s ingestible camera, PillCam, sutures, surgical tools and heart valve repair products, with plans to expand to pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) in the future. Wing’s UAVs are designed for quicker and more reliable deliveries than traditional transport methods, avoiding traffic congestion in Dublin.

Finland faces increase in GPS jamming

Finnish authorities have reported a surge of GPS malfunctions in the area. Authorities speculate the disturbances are due to Russian jamming. The reports were brought to the public’s attention when a Finnish maritime pilot shared on social media a video depicting radar malfunctions. Traficom, Finland’s federal transport and communications agency, told local news outlet Iltalehti that there has been a noticeable increase in GPS malfunctions, although it detected no interference with radar frequencies in the Gulf of Finland.

China takes PNT to the moon

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Scientists from the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering proposed the construction of 21 positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) satellites around the moon to support China’s lunar ambitions. The satellites will be deployed in four types of orbits over three phases, featuring a sustainable and cost-effective design, according to a paper published in the Chinese Space Science and Technology journal. China aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030 and build a research base at the lunar south pole with international partners around 2035, according to the paper.