ISRO and NASA Sign MOU on Chandrayaan-1
The Indian Space Research Organization and National Aeronautics and Space Administration of USA have signed an MOU on inclusion of two US scientifi c instruments on board India’s first mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-1. These instruments are – Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini SAR) developed by Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University and Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), jointly built by Brown University and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA.
www.isro.gov.in

Ambulance Trusts join mapping agreement
Every ambulance trust in England is to benefit from greater access to Ordnance Survey’s most detailed digital geographic information (GI) from this month. It follows the launch of a pilot agreement aimed at encouraging the use of computerised mapping across the NHS. The plan is to ensure health providers have the reliable information they need to improve patient care while making the most effi cient possible use of their resources.
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

ProLink patent on Payfor- Play approved
ProLink Holdings Corp. the provider of GPS golf course management systems, announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded patent number 7,031,947, Method And Apparatus For Continuing Play With Cart-Based Navigation/ Information System Display, effective April 18, 2006.
www.goprolink.com

Leica MobileMatriX v1.51 launched
Leica MobileMatriX is said to support a Multi-Sensor GIS. Within a Multi- Sensor GIS fi eld crews can attach several sensors – TPS, GPS, Levels and Laser Range Finders – at the same time and also can measure with various sensors simultaneously. Multi-Sensor GIS is an emerging trend for mobile GIS and mapping applications.
Leica also announces the upcoming release of Leica GradeSmart 3D (V5.2), a smart machine automation dozer and grader solution for the construction industry. It will introduce new features and improvements designed to enhance speed of operation, support and usability and streamlining of the data transformation process.

Galileo to be scaled down?
The Financial Times claims the EU may be forced to operate the Galileo constellation with fewer than the currently proposed 30 satellites. The FT quotes Philippe Busquin, a former European research commissioner who now oversees the Galileo project as a member of the European Parliament as saying: ‘It’s not clear that we really need 30 satellites. We could certainly make Galileo a success with 24 or 25.’ Jack Metthey, a director handling research in the European Commission, also describes the Galileo budget situation as ‘very, very tight’, adding: ‘Having less satellites would certainly help address the money issue.’’ However, it is acknowledged that a reduction in the number of satellites could undermine the quality of the system, by reducing coverage and precision, two of Galileo’s trump cards as a 21st- Century constellation. www.rin.org.uk

An attempt is being made by volunteers all over the world to visit the confl uence points and document the scenery with pictures and narratives
Europe and Russia to restart talks on Galileo and Glonass operations
Negotiations on interoperability between the European Galileo and Russian Glonass satellite navigation systems are expected to restart soon, after a yearlong hiatus. The hope of talks follows an agreement on dialogue structures between the European Commission and Russia’s Federal Space Agency (FSA).
A trilateral steering board has been created for discussions between the EC, European Space Agency and the FSA. ESA already has working groups covering areas of co-operation under its framework agreement with the FSA, including satellite communications, global navigation and technology. These will include EC representatives and will report to the new steering board. A new working group on Earth observation will also be created.
www.flightglobal.com

Forest cover in Philippines on the rise
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) revealed recently that satellite imagery and remote sensors indicate that the forest cover in Central Luzon has increased to 7.2 million hectares from 6.5 million hectares in 1988. www.manilastandardtoday.com

Border inspection mapping operation
China and Nepal will jointly launch a border inspection mapping operation. Both countries will apply GPS to survey the border marks. The major mapping work will be done by Chinese workers and then workers from Nepal will check the mapping data and results. The Surveying and Mapping Bureau of Shaanxi, from northwest China, has been appointed to take the task and will form the main body of the China team. The first batch of mapping workers are scheduled to arrive in the China-Nepal border area next month and all the outdoor surveying is planned to finish by the end of September. It is expected that the final mapping outcome will be unveiled by the end of 2007. www.vnagency.com.vn

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