Beidou’s third-generation satellite navigation makes a splash
More than 40,000 fishing boats in China have been equipped with receivers tuned to China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System, to provide better search and rescue for ships in trouble, a Beidou expert said. “Fishers call the Beidou system their patron,” Yang Yuanxi, an academician with the Chinese Academy …

Airbus wins two ESA studies for Mars Sample Return mission
Airbus has won two studies from the European Space Agency (ESA) to design a Sample Fetch Rover and an Earth Return Orbiter. These two elements will be critical parts of a mission to return samples of the planet Mars to Earth before the end of …

Oscilloquartz launches enhanced PRTC solution for 5G network timing
Oscilloquartz, an ADVA company, has launched its enhanced primary reference time clock (ePRTC) system to enable unprecedented timing accuracy and stability even when the GNSS signal is lost. The technology provides the ideal timing source for missioncritical transport systems, such as utility networks; government infrastructure and …

EU-wide rules for safety of drones approved
MEPs approved an agreement reached between Council and Parliament negotiators in November 2017 on EU-wide principles for drones and drone operators to ensure a common level of safety and give operators and manufacturers the predictability to develop products and services. Currently most drones fall under differing national rules, …

Airbus to provide an end-to-end Geo-Information system to Thailand
The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand (GISTDA) has selected Airbus as partner for its next-generation national geo-information system. The end-to-end system will make Thailand one of the few nations able to fully exploit geo-information for societal benefits. Fully in line with Thailand’s 4.0 …

Four more Galileo satellites launch scheduled for July 25
Four more Galileo satellites will be launched on a customized Ariane 5 on July 25.
The next Arianespace rocket to orbit Galileo satellites has begun taking shape at the spaceport in French Guiana. Build-up of the heavy-lift vehicle is now underway inside the spaceport’s Launcher Integration …

Japan looks to launch driverless car system in Tokyo by 2020
A self-driving car service could be on Tokyo’s public roads in time for the 2020 Olympics as Japan looks to drive investment in new technology to drive economic growth, according to a government strategic review announced. The government plans to begin testing a driverless …

Russia launches Glonass-M navigation satellite
Russia has launched a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Plesetsk space center to orbit a Glonass-M satellite, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“The middle-class Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket launched on June 17 from the Plesetsk space center (Arkhangelsk Region) successfully put the Russian navigation Glonass-M spacecraft to the designated orbit.” Earlier, …

Airborne LiDAR to be used to survey electricity network in Queensland
Powerlink will use aerial surveying technology to undertake an engineering assessment of their Northern and Central transmission network. Working with NM Group, the project will use helicopter laser (LiDAR) scanning to identify maintenance issues and update records on over 3000 km of powerline.
Provided …

EU preparing for secondgeneration Galileo
The European Commission has published a contract notice for procurement of Galileo transition satellites. The contracting authority, the Directorate- General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), wishes to procure new Galileo transition satellites with evolved specifications to ensure the continuity of the Galileo constellation in 2025-2026 and …