Coast Guard Jettisons Loran
November 25, 2009The U.S. Coast Guard Commandant has formally certified that termination of the Loran-C signal will not adversely impact maritime navigation, signing a document to that effect on November 20 and forwarding it to the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. The first of the two criteria for terminating the Loran-C signal has thus been met.
Anticipated next steps include a Coast Guard ALCOAST Internet message release on this topic, the release of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision, and a Federal Register Notice, all measures en route to executing the termination of the Loran-C signal.
Actual termination depends upon a final determination by DHS Secretary Napolitano that the Loran-C infrastructure is not required as a backup to GPS. Until then, the Coast Guard will continue moving towards termination while operating the system. If/when that determination is made, actual termination will take place.
For a recent GPS World blog and readers' comments on this subject, see Wide Awake with No Back-Up.
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