FAA Releases Impact Report from LightSquared Interference

The FAA, as requested by the Executive Office of the President's Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee's National Coordination Office (NCO) Director, (what a mouthful) has delivered a report on the expected impacts from interference due to LightSquared's terrestrial broadcasts.
These impacts are big, including the estimated loss of 800 lives - or rather, lives that would have been saved by moving to GPS technologies - something that is impacted by LightSquared interference.
Here's a list of the expected impacts (from their Executive Summary):

OCX in Trouble? Already?

The recent PDR (Preliminary Design Review) by the US Air Force of the next generation GPS Operational Control Segment, (OCX) under development by Raytheon, was not approved. The US Air Force chose to "Withold Approval" until actions from the PDR could be reviewed.
This is not good news for Raytheon and may point to trouble down the line for OCX. In the current economic environment, adding costs to an already costly program is not in the cards. If the current OCX design is not sufficient, what next? Will more funding, if required, be appropriated?
Keep an eye on this one - it could be a storm.

Sprint moves LightSquared a step closer to entering 4G market

Sprint is onboard with LightSquared, meaning LightSquared's business is not going away. The FCC still ha snot approved their spectrum though - risky move by Sprint?

Sprint President of Network Operations Steve Elfman says:

"We believe LightSquared, in cooperation with the FCC and adjacent spectrum users, is taking proactive steps to address and resolve these issues in a timely manner,"

See the full story here:

Sprint deal moves LightSquared a step closer to entering 4G market

GPS IIF-2 Launch

The newest next generation GPS satellite lifted-off today at 2:41 AM EDT.  Aboard the Delta 4, the satellite was in it’s proper orbit within 3 1/2 hours.
The satellite will undergo a checkout period prior to being set healthy.  Typically this takes a few weeks.
Here’s a shot from Universe Today:

Technical Data

Iridium Offers New Air-Traffic Service

Iridium Offers New Air-Traffic Service - WSJ.com

Look like they'll provide a navigation service as part of a digital data stream for traffic control for long-haul carriers. Stay tuned for more on this.

Do you know LightSquared?

LightSquared (LSQ) is a company that is building a next generation broadband network, those of the "4G LTE" type.  This is a good thing because it allows us all to have faster, more widespread communications, staying online longer.  These networks work by transmitting signals from cell towers.  The issue with LightSquared is that they are planning on transmitting on a frequency that is right next to GPS frequencies.

Welcome back!

Welcome back to The Nog!  I'm re-opening the navigation blog I started here. My company discontinued blogs by individual authors, but I wasn't quite done writing about navigation topics.  I'll continue writing in the same style I did on the original blog, but I'll be a bit more open about the topics I'll discuss and present a few more opinions.
Soon, I'll start bringing over the most popular blog entries from the original location, reposting here.
Let me know what you want to hear about, the nav topics are wide open.
Good to be back!