GLONASS for civilian use in 2006
The restrictions on precise satellite definition of on-land coordinates will be lifted by yearend, a senior military official said. Lieutenant-General Valery Filatov said the location of geographical objects at accuracy of up to 30 meters would be available for civilian use from the Russian GLONASS satellite system and the US GPS.
www.spacedaily.com

Chunghwa Telecom and SiRF to offer A-GPS services
Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan announced the formation of an alliance with SiRF International to establish an A-GPS platform for operation of mobile location services in the Taiwan market. CHT has finished R&D and testing of the A-GPS platform that integrates GPS technology with CHT’s mobile communication infrastructure, It initially offered A-GPS services to Taiwan SECOM, one of the largest provider of security services in Taiwan, at the end of last year and plans to offer personal A-GPS value-added services to mobile communication users later this year.
www.digitimes.com

New Tiny Surface Mount GPS Receiver
Trimble has introduced its new Copernicus GPS receiver – a thumbnail-sized, surface-mount, low power module ideal for adding GPS capabilities to Bluetooth appliances, sport accessories, personal navigators or cameras, computer and communication peripherals as well as vehicle tracking, navigation, and security products.
It enables system integrators to easily add GPS capability to a mobile device with minimal impact on its size or battery life at a very economical price.
www.trimble.com

GIOVE A Transmits Loud And Clear
After launch and platform commissioning, GIOVE A started signal transmission on 12 January and the quality of these signals is now being checked. This checking process is employing several facilities, including the Navigation Laboratory at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), in the Netherlands, the ESA ground station at Redu, in Belgium, and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) Chilbolton Observatory in the United Kingdom.
Chilbolton’s 25 metre antenna makes it possible to acquire the signals from GIOVE A and verify they conform to the Galileo system’s design specifi cation. Each time the satellite is visible from Chilbolton, the large antenna is activated and tracks the satellite. GIOVE A orbits at an altitude of 23 260 kilometres, making a complete journey around the Earth in 14 hours and 22 minutes.
The GIOVE A mission also represents an opportunity for the testing of a key element of the future Galileo system, the user receivers. The first Galileo experimental receivers, manufactured by Septentrio of Belgium, were installed at the Redu and Chilbolton In Orbit Test Stations and at the Guildford, United Kingdom, premises of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), the manufacturer of the satellite and now in charge of its control in orbit.

PCI Geomatics supports CARTOSAT-1 satellite data
PCI Geomatics announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Antrix Corporation Ltd. to develop an interface that integrates CARTOSAT-1 satellite data products in Geomatica, PCI Geomatics image-centric geospatial software. Antrix, a corporate arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), launched the CARTOSAT-1 satellite on May 5, 2005, to provide stereo data for advanced and large scale mapping applications.
www.pcigeomatics.com

Multimap Australasia announces online mapping deal Multimap, one of the online mapping providers, announced the implementation of its online mapping services for the Commonwealth Travel Services Corporation (CTC), at the Travel Distribution Summit in Singapore (14th & 15th February, 2006). Now, customers of one of the largest and most trusted travel and tour operators in Singapore can access content-rich, easy-to-read interactive maps of their…

CRPF vehicles to have GPS sets
The Government of India has decided to introduce GPS sets in all vehicles carrying security personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the country. Initially the GPS sets will be installed in 513 vehicles of the CRPF and later it will be introduced in all vehicles. The ministry has decided to provide 23 mine protective vehicles to the CRPF for counter-insurgency operations. The government has decided to arm its paramilitary forces with hi-tech weapons to fi ght the Naxals and insurgents.
www.asianage.com

LEICA SpiderWEB software to track users
Leica SpiderWEB allows the GPS Network administrators to keep track of users, data and downloads. They can conveniently download GPS RINEX observation data for single or multiple stations with just a few mouse clicks. It’s a solution for those who are looking for a fast and easy way to supply customers with GPS reference. It perfectly complements the Leica Geosystems reference stations software product portfolio consisting of Leica GPS Spider and Leica GNSS QC.
Leica Geosystems also presents an extremely powerful data collection and evaluation solution for tunnel construction – from tunnel guidance to the handover documentation. TMS Tunnelscan is the new system module for tunnel scanning within the Leica TMS product family. www.leica-geosystems.com

GIOVE-A transmits first Galileo signals

The GIOVE-A satellite is in good health and started transmitting the
fi rst Galileo signals from medium earth orbit on 12 January.
GIOVE-A was placed in orbit (altitude 23,260 km) by a Soyuz-Fregat rocket
operated by Starsem on 28 December last from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

250 Village resources centres by March end

As many as 250 Village Resource Centres (VRCs), aimed at providing
locale-specifi c information to rural population by effectively using
satellite techonology, will be set up in the country by March end this year,
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G Madhavan Nair said.