Could a GPS 9/11 Happen?
More Calls For Protecting Vulnerable System Seen
More industry experts are calling for backups to the Global Positioning System as the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks recently passed. This week, in an interview with a San Francisco television station, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, industry expert Dana Goward and others said a major disaster could be on the horizon if GPS is not protected.
Goward, who is president of the Resilient Navigation & Timing Foundation, doesn’t think the U.S. government is doing enough to protect GPS’ signal and satellites. “Absolutely not. Twenty years ago, a government report issued just before 9-11 that called for a series of measures to protect GPS frequencies, toughen receivers, and provide alternate sources of timing and location information,” he said. “These have never been seriously acted upon.”
In fact, Goward believes that the situation today is worse than it was in September 2001. “Over the last two decades, the FCC has significantly reduced its enforcement staff and its ability to detect and deter disruptions,” he said. “The FCC decision in the Ligado Networks case has, according to the executive branch, authorized substantial interference with GPS signals for many users. And in 2010 when the Loran navigation and timing system was shutdown, instead of being upgraded as promised, we lost the only widely and publicly available alternative system.”
A number of published reports say that both Russia and China now have backup systems to their own positioning satellites. “These are more than published reports. They are official Chinese and Russian documents and been the subject of presentations at international conferences by Chinese and Russian officials,” Goward said. “Official Iranian news releases say they also have a terrestrial alternative to GPS, and South Korea has been very public about upgrades to their Loran system. Saudi Arabia has Loran as well, though there is little in the public domain about it.”
The story continues on our industry-leading website: www.locationbusinessnews.com.
Orolia Wins Two 65 Million Euro Atomic Clock Contracts
Neuchatel, Switzerland-based Orolia has been awarded two contracts worth 65 million eurosto provide atomic clocks for the first 12 satellites of the Galileo Second Generation System (G2S).
The first contract was from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the second from Leonardo. Three Orolia Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standards (RAFs) will go into each of the new G2S satellites. Two of the RAFs will be integrated with Leonardo’s Passive Hydrogen Masers (PHM), which is the master clock for the Galileo satellite payload, the company said.
Orolia, which has delivered more than 140 RAFS Flight Models worldwide, said it has 114 units flying on GNSS constellations. The company said it has delivered 77 PHM Flight Models—of which 53 are flying on the current Galileo constellation.
The new G2S satellites will upgrade the Galileo constellation, joining the twenty-six first-generation satellites currently in orbit. The satellites will be larger than the existing Galileo satellites, and feature a more powerful navigation antenna, to achieve a decimeter-scale positioning precision, the ESA said.
Contact: Charles Jones, Orolia, (585) 450-2889, charles.jones@orolia.com, www.orolia.com.
NextNav Integrates Pinnacle Into Atlas: Earth Game
NextNav said its vertical location service, Pinnacle, has been integrated into Atlas Reality’s Atlas: Earth game, which launches Oct. 18. Pinnacle’s 3D geolocation capabilities will Atlas: Earth “to deliver a gaming experience built around the real environments of users, especially in densely populated areas and multistory buildings,” the company said.
While NextNav CEO Ganesh Pattabiraman says 3D geolocation ushers in a new era of immersive gaming experiences, the potential $215 billion market by 2024 doesn’t hurt companies looking to get into this segment.
Atlas: Earth allows users to purchase virtual parcels of real estate that operate as digital properties tethered to real locations, NextNav said. Pinnacle features precise vertical location intelligence, “enabling users to record visits to locations such as the top floor of the Empire State Building or the Skygarden in the San Francisco Federal Building,” the company said.
As Location Business News reported, NextNav entered into a merger agreement with Spartacus Acquisition Corp. [TMTS] that would allow NextNav being listed on Nasdaq. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter or early fourth quarter, the company said.
Contact: Chelsea Hoedl, for NextNav, NextNav@launchsquad.com, www.nextnav.com.
Other Location News:
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🛰 Experts Warn About Vulnerabilities of U.S. GPS System to Cyber Terrorists. “Attacking GPS would ripple through every facet of American society and immediately impact every American, ” noted Dana Goward, President of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation.
👍 House T&I Committee Set to Mark-up Transport and Infrastructure Title of Build Back Better Act. “$20.15 billion for transit and passenger rail.”
😮 Toyota CEO Warns About The Dangers Of Autonomous Vehicles After Paralympics Incident. Akio Toyoda: “There is this pressure on carmakers to be the first to release Level 5 vehicles but I have been saying that we should not jump onto such a bandwagon.”
✌ IAA Mobility: A Very German, Very COVID Auto Show. Roger Lanctot: “IAA was a modest success. Meetings were productive. Attendees were in good spirits. New product announcements were plentiful. Neither COVID-19 nor anti-car protesters could quell the enthusiasm of participants.”
🛩 The U.S. Army Wants A Drone That Weighs Less Than A Slice Of Bread. “Desirable features include threat detection and cueing; cursor on target; GPS and GPS denied operations; ability to integrate with ATAK/Nett Warrior [Android Tactical Assault Kit] and Adaptive Squad Architecture; obstacle avoidance; and GPS-denied return to home,” said the research solicitation.
✔ Self-Driving Car Company Aurora Making Pittsburgh Its Headquarters. “In July, Aurora announced it will go public through a merger with Reinvent Technology Partners Y, a special-purpose acquisition company, in a deal that puts the combined company value at $13 billion. Aurora acquired Uber ATG in a deal finalized earlier this year.”
🚜 Indoor Positioning System Pinpoints Positions of Plants, People and Objects in the Greenhouse. “CoRanger, introduced by Ridder, is a patented system that can pinpoint the positions of plants, people, and objects in the greenhouse to within 10 centimeters.”
New Study Predicts GNSS Market to Grow Despite Pandemic
A new market study published by Global Industry Analysts titled "Global Navigation Satellite System - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics" predicts the worldwide GNSS market to be $219 billion by 2026, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7 percent. The U.S. GNSS market is estimated at $44.8 billion in 2021, while China is forecasted to reach $44.6 Billion by 2026, the company said.
“Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 3.2 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, over the analysis period,” the study said. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 3.6 percent CAGR, the study said.
Contact: Zak Ali, Global Industry Analysts, (408) 528-9966, ZA@StrategyR.com, www.StrategyR.com.
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Location Industry Briefs
Send your news to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.comfor more news and an archive of stories.
Javad GNSS Rolls Out MCant-3S Receiver and Antenna
Javad GNSS has launched its MCAnt-3S compact receiver and antenna. Combining the company’s latest-generation TRIUMPH technology, the unit features a high-performance GNSS antenna.
In addition, the receiver has a compact chassis that is easy to mount, the company said. MCAnt-3S, which hosts 874 GNSS signal channels, is perfect for machine control applications, the company said.
Contact: Javad GNSS, sales@javad.com.
Teledyne Launches New Geospatial Group
Teledyne has launched a geospatial group by combining its Optech and CARIS businesses. The new Teledyne Geospatial group will map land and sea through lidar sensors combined with software workflows, the company said.
The collaboration offers customers mapping and data products inside of one complete workflow, the company said. The CZMIL SuperNova, the first product from Teledyne Geospatial, integrates Optech’s bathymetric lidar with CARIS’ processing software.
Contact: Jennifer Parham, Teledyne, Jennifer.Parham@teledyne.com.
Septentrio Launches MosaicTM Wireless
Septentrio has introduced its mosaicTM wireless, or mowi, that combines the mosaic-X5 or mosaic-H module receiver with a dual-mode Bluetooth and integrated Wi-Fi from the ESP32- WRover programmable module by Espressif Systems. The company said it is an addition to the existing mosaicHAT board, designed on the Raspberry Pi platform.
Septentrio says engineers use the ESP32 and the multiple libraries available for Internet-of-Things (IoT) prototyping. The mowi board is a way for integrators to get started with Septentrio’s mosaic-X5 or mosaic-H heading module receivers, the company said.
Contact: Septentrio, www.septentrio.com.
Redpoint Positioning Offers Pandemic Distancing Product
Redpoint Positioning has announced its social distancing solutions for indoor workspaces. The advanced location technology is designed to help employees keep a safe distance from one another when indoors and reduce the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus, the company said.
Redpoint Positioning's Proximity Warning System, with ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology, allows companies to create an invisible bubble around each employee, alerting them if they get too close to another team member, the company said.
Contact: Veronica Henley, for Redpoint, (305) 776-0455, veronica@forwardvision.net, www.redpointpositioning.com.
CalAmp’s Italy Subsidiary Launches New Fleet and Asset Management Product
CalAmp [CAMP] said its Italy subsidiary, LoJack Italia, has launched CalAmp iOn in the country. The fleet and asset management product helps transportation, industrial, government, commercial and service fleet operators reduce costs, increase operational efficiency and improve fleet safety, the company said.
LoJack has been active in Italy for 15 years and has more than 500,000 software and service subscribers added in last 5 years, the company said.
Contact: LoJack Italia, www.lojack.it/ion.
Hong Kong Renews Tracking Contract
GpsGate has confirmed that its contract with DigiMobi was renewed by Airport Authority Hong Kong for the Hong Kong International Airport. Since 2015, DigiMobi has provided vehicle tracking services to HKIA—and will continue through 2025, the company said.
The fleet management system no only includes standard tracking features, but apron road traffic detection and seamless indoor/outdoor tracking of baggage tractors, the company said. GpsGate Server, which includes as many as 5,000 vehicles, also displays the current traffic conditions on the apron through changing geofence colors--and the baggage tractors switch from GPS to Bluetooth & iBeacons for outdoor/indoor tracking, the company said.
Contact: Sven Vedin, GpsGate, 46(0)8 612 50 70, sven.vedin@gpsgate.com.
46(0)8 612 50 70, www.gpsgate.com.
STMicroelectronics and Blues Wireless Partner For Location-Aware Product
STMicroelectronics [STM] and Blues Wireless said ST products are embedded in Blues Wireless’ Notecard, a system-on-module (SOM) solution that accelerates development of cellular IoT solutions.
The Blues Wireless Notecard builds on a high-performance, ultra-low-power STM32L4R5 microcontroller (MCU), an STSAFE-A Secure Element for key management and device security, and an LIS2DTW12 for temperature sensing, motion, and power-optimized location awareness, the company said.
Contact: Michael Markowitz, STMicroelectronics, (781) 591-0354, michael.markowitz@st.com.
People
FocalPoint has named GPS veteran Scott Pomerantz as CEO and established a U.S. subsidiary. Pomerantz, who brought GPS to Samsung and Apple cellphones as the head of Global Locate, will lead a team that will focus on the mobile, wearables and automotive market segments, the company said.
The company, which recently had a successful Series B round of investment led by VC firm Draper Esprit, offers its Supercorrelation technology.
Contact: FocalPoint, https://focalpointpositioning.com.
Zachary Doerzaph will become the next executive director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. He succeeds Tom Dingus, who stepped down from the role on Aug. 1, after 25 years, to return to a faculty position.
Zonar has named Wayne Deno as its new vice president of freight and over the road. A logistics and transportation professional with more than 25 years of experience, Deno brings executive perspective from both the supplier, financial and operational sides of the industry.
Contact: Ben Hohmann, Zonar, (206) 455-9072, ben.hohmann@zonarsystems.com.
Position Imaging, Inc. named Dick Sillman as vice president of engineering, Matthew Knoff as vice president of service, and Matt Haynes as senior vice president of sales to its senior executive team. Prior to joining the company, Sillman delivered many well-known products for Apple, Microsoft, and Tile, as well as several highly innovative startups.
Contact: Betsey Rogers, for Position Imaging, (603) 821-0809, betsey@bridgeviewmarketing.com.
Phunware [PHUN)] appointed Ryan Costello and Rahul Mewawalla to the Company’s Board of Directors. Costello previously served in the U.S. Congress from 2015 to 2019, where he focused on digital commerce and technology issues. Mewawalla has served as an executive with NBCUniversal, General Electric, Yahoo and Nokia.
Contact: Matt Glover, Phunware, (949) 574-3860, press@phunware.com.
Spireon, which announced the launch of its subsidiary, Spireon Telematics India, said that Pranab Das will oversee a team of 40 engineers. The launch of Spireon Telematics India follows the company’s five-year partnership with a managed service provider to tap into engineering resources, the company said.
Contact: Spireon, www.spireon.com.
Jobs
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