The Commission proposes to earmark €7 billion to guarantee the completion of the EU satellite navigation infrastructure and to ensure the exploitation of the systems until 2020, such as the operations of the space and terrestrial infrastructures, the necessary replenishment/replacement activities, certification procedures, and notably the provision of services.

National Remote Sensing Centre of India will set up a remote sensing ground station in the continent of Antarctica. Once the Antarctica ground station is operational, it will boost the remote sensing data transmitted by Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites. The data will be helpful during natural calamities like earthquakes, tsunamis and floods, besides providing regular data terrain. According to NRSC sources, the proposed ground station in Antarctica will receive data around 10 to 12 orbits per day from different IRS satellites.

Autodesk, Inc has announced several new features to be added to the next release of AutoCAD WS, a free* web and mobile application that enables users to view, edit and share AutoCAD projects across desktop, web and mobile devices. AutoCAD WS users will have access to 3D interactive features, including the ability to work with 3D drawings on mobile devices.

u-blox has announced two new products equipped with Automotive Dead Reckoning (ADR) technology. The NEO-6V GPS module and UBX-G6010- SA-DR single-chip deliver drop-in, self calibrating GPS Dead Reckoning performance for high precision vehicle navigation systems. ADR enables highly accurate positioning in areas of weak or no GPS satellite reception such as within tunnels and park houses.

On November 30, the GLONASS-K1 satellite, GLONASS 701(K), which had been using broadcast almanac slot 3 and transmitting on frequency channel -5 while undergoing flight tests, ceased transmissions on its assigned channel and was removed from the almanac.GLONASS 744, launched with the other Block 44 satellites on 4 November 2011 and which achieved its orbital slot 3 in Plane 1 a few days ago, was activated and is transmitting on frequency channel 5. It is currently set unhealthy in both the almanac and the ephemeris while undergoing further commissioning.GLONASS 743 and 745 are still moving towards their designated orbit slots.

Juniper Systems has partnered with Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) and will manufacture the Topcon Tesla™, the newest data collector in Topcon’s full lineup of rugged handheld computers and solutions for the survey industry. The Tesla features the advantages of both a rugged handheld and a tablet PC, without the disadvantages of either.

Europe has taken a major step in its history by launching the first two operational Galileo satellites with a Soyuz launcher to reach their orbit at 23.000 kilometres. From 2014, the new constellation will enable improved services ranging from more precise in-car navigation, effective road transport management, search and rescue services, more secure banking transactions as well as reliable electricity provision, which all rely heavily on satellite navigation technologies to work efficiently. The overall economic impact is estimated to be around 90 billion euro over the next 20 years.

Russia’s GLONASS has been upgraded to a precision of up to 5 metres after the successful launch of the 24th GLONASS satellite on 3rd October 2011. The launch marked a turning point bringing the number of GLONASS satellites to a complete set, as planned by the designers. Previous versions of GLONASS had an accuracy within 50 metres.

Land & Property Services (LPS) has announced its plan to deliver a programme of improved mapping for Northern Ireland. The Positional Improvement Project, which examines the accuracy of features of LPS Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland (OSNI) maps, will deliver significant improvements to the quality of current mapping, enabling its customers to provide more efficient and accurate service delivery.

Robotic car technology being developed at Oxford University that interprets its surroundings and makes decisions about where to go could eliminate the agony and cost of traffic jams. Whilst human drivers might use GPS to find their way such systems cannot provide anything like the coverage, precision, and reliability autonomous cars need to safely navigate. GPS also fails to tell a robotic car anything about what surrounds it; its proximity to obstacles, other cars, pedestrians, or their intentions.