TAG: Directions 2014

Directions 2014: Serve the World, Benefit Mankind — A System Matures

December 1, 2013

By adhering to the principles of independence, openness, compatibility, and gradualness, China has steadily pushed forward the deployment of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), following a planned three-step strategy. In 2000, BeiDou Navigation Satellite Demonstration System was completed. By December 2012, five geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, five inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellites, and four medium-Earth orbit (MEO) satellites had been launched, forming the constellation, and formally beginning service provision to the Asia-Pacific region.


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Image: GPS World

Directions 2014: New Horizons of GLONASS

December 1, 2013

The fundamentals of Russian government policy in satellite navigation are defined in Presidential Decree #638 of May 17, 2007, and specify that GLONASS services are provided globally and free of any user fees, and GLONASS is used as a basis of the National Positioning, Navigation and Timing System. To efficiently implement the government policy in satellite navigation, in March 2012 the Government approved the dedicated Federal Program focused on GLONASS sustainment, development, and expansion of applications.


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Directions 2014: Keeping Our Commitment to Civil Users

December 1, 2013

The cliché “time flies when you’re having fun” accurately describes how quickly the past six months have passed for me. In a program as challenging, rewarding, and mission-critical as GPS, it is full-speed ahead all the time. As the GPS director, I am acutely aware of the importance of time — particularly high-accuracy time. Since declaring initial operational capability in December 1993, the extremely precise time service delivered by GPS has enabled numerous technological advances around the globe.


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Figure 1. Galileo System Architecture.

Directions 2014: On the Path to Early Services

November 26, 2013

By Eric Chatre, Horst Faas, and Marco Lisi With four satellites in space, launched by pairs in October […]


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