GNSS

ESA teams up with Leonardo against satnav jamming

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Leonardo are embarking on a joint project to explore smart antennas. Representatives of ESA and Leonardo signed a contract at the Paris Air Show to research and develop machine learning techniques to steer antenna arrays to block out unwanted signals. The project will be developed under the umbrella of ESA’s Navigation Innovation Support Programme (NAVISP).

Smarter antenna designs for resilience

Conventional antennas catch signals from all directions. A controlled reception pattern antenna (CRPA) can focus on signals coming from specific satellites and ignore signals or interference coming from other directions. These types of antennas are used in satellite navigation receivers to block jamming and counterfeit signals. They rely on electronics that control how they adjust their patterns (beamforming).

Under contract with NAVISP, Leonardo — together with ELT Group as subcontractor — will explore the reduction of the distance between the antenna elements to reduce the size and weight of the antenna array, and the use of machine learning to determine the best antenna setup and adjust the settings faster. This approach will lead to smaller, smarter and more effective antennas, especially useful in space-limited environments such as aircraft. esa.int

PNT portal

A new information portal for PNT and GNSS is now active. The European GNSS Center of Excellence (GNSS COE) is designed to provide expertise to help development of critical PNT and GNSS applications.

“We support the development of applications both in the design definition phase, as well in the validation phase of these applications,” according to the site. Among the offerings are masterclasses, resilience assessment, mitigation methods, and a newsfeed. The portal, a National GNSS Knowledge Center project, was funded under the European Space Agency’s NAVISP Element 3, which supports member states’ PNT initiatives and national strategies. pntportal.eu

ESA and Neuraspace collaborate to reduce signal noise

Neuraspace is working with ESA to revolutionise satellite navigation and orbit management through innovative use of GNSS technologies.

The joint project, developed with the support of ESA’s NAVISP (Element 2) programme, is titled “Stop Getting Noise – Automated GNSS Processing for Smarter Orbits”. It seeks to address critical operational challenges faced by commercial satellite operators, launch service providers and defence and government agencies.

The challenges to be addressed include the urgent need for more scalable, accurate, and autonomous orbit determination, particularly for satellite mega-constellations, in an increasingly congested space environment. Whereas defence and government agencies demand high-confidence SDA solutions amid increasing geopolitical tensions, satellite operators require reliable orbit tracking and early mission support. neuraspace.com

Space Force accepts new GPS control system

The Space Force officially took ownership of the GPS Next Generation Operational Control System, or OCX, from contractor RTX on July 1.

Accepting OCX does not mean it is already being used operationally, however. Integrated systems testing and readiness exercises must follow first. But if all goes well, OCX will enter operations late this year, said Col. Stephen Hobbs, commander of Mission Delta 31.

It has been a long and arduous road to develop OCX, which began with prototyping contracts back in 2007. In 2012, the Air Force estimated that OCX would enter operations by June 2017 with a program cost of $3.7 billion, per the Government Accountability Office. If current estimates hold, it will enter service in December with a program cost of $7.7 billion.

The Air Force selected Raytheon to build the system in 2012; by 2016, delays and extra costs had mounted so much that the Air Force had to declare a Nunn McCurdy breach, indicating “critical” cost and schedule overruns. Even after the program was certified to continue, delays continued. airandspaceforces.com

UK and France partner on navigation systems

UK and French experts will work more closely to increase the resilience of both countries’ critical infrastructure to the signal-jamming seen in the war in Ukraine, as part of a suite of joint science and tech work. As part of a raft of UK France joint science and tech efforts, researchers from both countries will work together on technologies complementary to the likes of GPS, which are highly resistant to this sort of jamming.

An example is e-LORAN, a program driven by the UK government, working closely with the National Physical Laboratory and private sector companies. The system uses ground-based radio towers, which are much more challenging to block, for a reliable “backup” to GPS, so that UK infrastructure can keep running even when GPS fails.

The UK’s Science and Tech Secretary used a joint visit to Imperial College London, with French President, Macron, to set out how this sort of collaboration makes both the UK and France stronger and safer. Whilst speaking at Imperial, Peter Kyle also pointed out the tens of millions of pounds in investment being brought into the British tech sector through UK French trade, as well as the new jobs and growth that this partnership creates.

Additionally, the UK and France are launching a partnership on supercomputing. The partnership will be led by the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing, the home of Isambard AI, and the French computing centre GENCI, who lead France’s AI Factory.

Closer ties between both nations’ world leading compute power, and sharing AI best practice, will turbocharge the breakthroughs in AI, transforming public services and improving lives. These efforts build on the AI Opportunities Action Plan, the UK government’s blueprint to fuel the use of AI across the economy. www.gov.uk

SouthPAN satellite navigation program clears Critical Design Review milestone

GMV has announced that the Southern Positioning Augmentation Network (SouthPAN) has successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR), marking a pivotal milestone towards delivering advanced satellite-based augmentation services (SBAS) across Australia and New Zealand. Led by Lockheed Martin Australia, with GMV as a key strategic partner, SouthPAN is an innovative project jointly supported by the Australian and New Zealand governments, set to provide groundbreaking satellite navigation and precise positioning services throughout Australasia.

The Critical Design Review represents a vital checkpoint in the lifecycle of a safety-critical system such as SouthPAN, validating that the design meets stringent performance, safety, and security requirements necessary for civil aviation operations. As part of this milestone, the SouthPAN team provided comprehensive certification artifacts aligned with international aviation standards, including ARP 4754A for systems development processes, DO-254 for hardware, and DO-278A for software assurance. The successful completion of the CDR demonstrates that the system’s architecture and implementation will satisfy the rigorous design assurance levels mandated for Safety-of-Life applications. Achieving this milestone confirms the readiness of the system’s design for operational deployment and marks a critical step forward towards its future certification for Safetyof Life services in the aviation sector.

SouthPAN is notable as the first SBAS globally designed from its inception as a service rather than as a conventional turnkey system. This innovative service oriented approach enables scalability and potential expansion into other regions, while establishing clear customer-provider interactions governed by service-level agreements (SLAs) and adherence to defined key performance indicators (KPIs).

Fraunhofer IAF presents compact integrated quantum magnetometer

Fraunhofer IAF’s latest version of its compact integrated quantum magnetometer is a diamond-based system characterized ® INSTITUTE OF NAVIGATION and mapping application to reduce foreign technological dependence. by its robustness, high integration density, and measurement sensitivity. It offers new measurement possibilities for a wide range of applications, including navigation. Developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF it is based on nitrogen vacancies (NV) in diamond and provides access to the smallest magnetic fields with a previously unattainable degree of flexibility and precision. The miniaturized measuring system offers new possibilities in applications that require precise measurement with minimal interference, such as in biochemical measurements of nerve pathways or in microelectronics. iaf.fraunhofer.de

Turkey to develop homegrown satellite navigation system

Turkey plans to develop its own satellite navigation system and mapping application to reduce foreign technological dependence.

The Regional Positioning and Timing System (BKZS) was announced in the “2030 Industry and Technology Strategy”. The BKZS project will provide Turkey with precise positioning and timing data through the country’s own satellites, according to the strategy document.

The BKZS system is designed as a regional alternative to global navigation satellite systems such as the United States’ GPS. While not aiming to replace GPS worldwide, the project seeks to reduce Turkey’s reliance on foreign positioning technologies, especially in sensitive sectors.

TÜBİTAK’s National Metrology Institute and the Turkish Space Agency are jointly testing a domestically produced rubidium atomic clock. The strategy paper states that cube satellite designs have been completed and are moving to the production phase. turkishminute.com