CORS Landmark

February 7, 2007
NOAA INSTALLS 1,001st CORS AT KEY WEST TIDE GAUGE
On December 20, 2006, NOAA installed a new high tech Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS), called CHIN, at the Nancy Foster Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center as part of the International Ocean Observation System (IOOS) program. Station CHIN holds the distinction of becoming the 1,001st station to join the NOAA-managed CORS network. Each CORS is equipped with a receiver that continuously collects radio signals broadcast by Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. These signals enable people to determine positional coordinates for a location of interest to them with an accuracy of less than an inch in all three dimensions. Most notably, station CHIN will usher in a new generation of CORS by becoming the first to provide precise positioning data in real time from both the U.S. based GPS satellites and the Russian based GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS).
Station CHIN will also be co-located with the tide gauge in Key West to provide crucial data for relating local sea level changes at Key West to the globally-consistent, rigorously-defined International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS). Installed in 1913, the Key West tide gauge provides one of the longest continuous records of sea level change among all stations contained in NOAA’s National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON). As part of the IOOS program, NOAA will install additional CORS at other NWLON stations to better relate sea level changes around the country to the ITRS. In addition to providing precise positioning data, the CORS network provides data to monitor (1) crustal motion, (2) the distribution of water vapor in the atmosphere, and (3) the distribution of free electrons in the ionosphere. The water-vapor information enables meteorologists to better forecast the amount of precipitation associated with storms, and the free-electron information enables atmospheric scientists to better forecast the impacts of space weather on power grids and telecommunications.
Station CHIN is so named in honor of Ms. Miranda Chin, the recently retired NOAA scientist who in the mid-1980’s pioneered the concept of establishing permanent stations for continuously collecting GPS signals. For more than two decades, Ms. Chin collaborated extensively with foreign, national, state, and local government agencies--as well as with private and academic organizations—to develop the CORS network. More than 185 organizations worldwide cooperate to sponsor and operate the stations that comprise the NOAA-managed CORS network, and the number of CORS partners continues to grow as, currently, more than 150 stations are being added to the CORS network each year. (For more information, see www.ngs.noaa.gov/CORS/).

China Puts New Navigation Satellite Into Orbit

The carrier rocket Long March 3-A blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Feb. 3, 2007. Photo courtesy XNA.
by Staff Writers
Xichang, China (XNA) Feb 05, 2007
China successfully put a navigation satellite into orbit early Saturday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The carrier rocket, Long March 3-A, blasted off at 0:28 a.m. ( Beijing Time). The satellite separated from the rocket about 24 minutes later. Data from the Xi'an satellite monitoring center showed that the satellite had accurately entered its orbit.
It is China's fourth Beidou (Big Dipper) navigation experimental satellite in orbit. The previous three were sent in space on Oct. 31, 2000, Dec. 21, 2000 and May 25, 2003 respectively.

Experts said the Beidou satellite navigation experimental system is operating well and has played a significant role in cartography, telecommunications, water conservation, transportation, fishery, prospecting, forest fire monitoring and national security.

The fourth Beidou navigation satellite, serving as a backup satellite for the Beidou satellite navigation experimental system, may replace the first Beidou satellite, when necessary, continuing to provide all-weather and all-day navigation and positioning information.

Experts said China is establishing the Compass Navigation Satellite System on the basis of the Beidou satellite navigation experimental system. The compass system will in 2008 fully meet the demand of satellite navigation for clients in China and neighboring regions.

The Compass Navigation Satellite System will gradually extend to be a global satellite navigation and positioning system after network building and experiments, experts said.

The compass system will be mainly used for economic purposes, providing efficient navigation and positioning services in transportation, meteorology, petroleum prospecting, forest fire monitoring, disaster forecast, telecommunications and public security, among others.

China is one of the several countries in the world capable of developing such a system on its own.

The system can help clients know their location at any time and place with accurate longitude, latitude and altitude data.

The satellite and carrier rocket were developed respectively by the China Academy of Space Technology and China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, which are under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The launch represents the 95th flight of China's Long March series of rockets.

earlier related report
China launches first satellite after satellite-killing missile test
Beijing (AFP) Feb 03 - China launched an experimental navigation satellite into space early Saturday, state press reported, the nation's first space launch since it tested a satellite-killing missile last month.

The Beidou (Big Dipper) satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launching Centre in southwest China's Sichuan province aboard a Long March 3-A rocket, Xinhua news agency said.

The satellite separated from the rocket 24 minutes into the flight and has successfully entered its planned orbit, the report said.

The launch was the first since China shocked the world on January 11 with a successful missile test that destroyed an orbiting Chinese weather satellite.

The satellite-killing missile raised global concerns of a renewed arms race to weaponise outer space.

The test made China only the third country in the world -- after the United States and the former Soviet Union -- to down an object in space.

Saturday's satellite launch was the fourth in the nation's Beidou (Big Dipper) experimental navigation satellite system that began in October 2000, Xinhua said.

The system is expected to be fully operational for clients in China and Asia by 2008 and according to current plans the network is to be expanded into a global positioning system in the future, it said.

The system will provide "navigation and positioning services in transportation, meteorology, petroleum prospecting, forest fire monitoring, disaster forecast, telecommunications and public security among others," it said.

China is one of several countries in the world capable of developing such a system on its own, it added.

Source: Xinhua News Agency


Source: Agence France-Presse

GPS Upgrade Underway

GPS Upgrade Will Require Complicated Choreography

File image of a GPS military satellite.
by Staff Sgt. Don Branum
50th Space Wing Public Affairs
Schriever AFB CO (SPX) Feb 06, 2007
Space professionals with the 2nd Space Operations Squadron have a daunting task ahead of them this summer: replacing the command-and-control system for GPS without any loss of "on-time, on-target" service to military or civil users. The new system, called the Architecture Evolution Plan, will provide 2nd SOPS with the tools to command upcoming generations of GPS satellites, said 1st Lt. Robert Kaegy, who is assigned to 2nd SOPS' AEP migration program.
The upgrade consists of hardware and software to replace the original command-and-control system, which has operated since GPS' inception, said Capt. Brian O'Connell, GPS Modernization Flight commander.

"The system will be capable of commanding and controlling the GPS constellation much as we do today, but planned software drops will also allow us to control the new II-F block of satellites when they're ready to fly," Captain O'Connell said.

The system also lets operators link directly into the Air Force Satellite Control Network, more than doubling the number of sites they can use for satellite command and control.

"This provides us with a greater capability to command our satellites, reduce commanding visibility gaps and potentially reduce our anomaly response time," Captain O'Connell said.

The transition process won't be as simple as turning off one system and turning on another, however.

"The core of the system is something called the Kalman Filter," Captain O'Connell said. "This system takes in data from our monitoring stations worldwide and uses this data to predict where each of the satellites will be in the future. This model is constantly updated, and the model in turn is uploaded to each vehicle."

The Kalman Filter makes sure each GPS satellite is broadcasting a precise navigation and timing signal. The new system will have a new Kalman Filter--which means the system will have to be carefully aligned with the current system's Kalman Filter.

"If we didn't do this, and we began uploading satellites with data from the AEP Kalman Filter, those vehicles would tell you that you're in a different place than the vehicles that still contain 'legacy' uploads," Captain O'Connell explained. "Clearly you wouldn't want your GPS receiver trying to tell you that you're in two different places."

In addition, each GPS ground antenna and monitoring station must migrate to the new system.

"This is a complicated piece of choreography," the captain said.

The process of converting the constellation and ground system takes about five days.

Related Links
2nd Space Operations Squadron
GPS Applications, Technology and Suppliers

New MT CORS Correction Station Added

January 25, 2007

ONE NEW STATION HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE NATIONAL CORS NETWORK.


Coordinate information, logfile and RINEX2 data is now available for the
following National CORS site.


BIL5 (Billings, MT)

Galileo Woes Continue

From - The Business UK

THE CONSORTIUM building the €2.3bn (£1.5bn, $2.9bn) European Galileo satellite will be dissolved in March unless it can resolve the infighting that has paralysed the project.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has issued an ultimatum to the eight aerospace and manufacturing companies who have failed to agree on how to divide up the work and missed deadlines.

Last week Jean-Jacques Dordain, the director general of ESA, which is funded by member states, announced a March deadline to determine whether to force the dissolution of the industrial consortium, which includes Britain’s Inmarsat, France’s Thales, and pan-European EADS.

A break-up of the group would be a significant blow as the firms struggle to create a rival to America’s Global Positioning System. The project involves launching a network of 30 satellites to orbit the earth. These will enable individuals to identify exactly where they are from any point by way of hardware that intercepts a radio signal; critics believe that the plan will also eventually have a military dimension, though this is denied by European officials.

The first satellite, which was supposed to be launched two years ago, remains grounded, and a further four are scheduled to be in orbit for 2009 but are likely to be delayed.

Last year Dordain launched three separate inquiries into the delays which were caused by Europe’s biggest aerospace hardware manufacturers failing to agree on sharing out the work, and failures with components.

The project has been plagued with problems. In June last year Britain’s future in Galileo was in jeopardy as two government departments argued over who should pay for the next financial instalment. The row between the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Transport over funding has since been resolved.

America has also been lukewarm over the system.