Report: PNT the Foundation of a $1.8 Trillion Space Market
GPS-based PNT seen as the backbone of global space market
In a new report, positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) is highlighted as a technology that will drive a $1.8 trillion global space market by 2035. The report, authored by the World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Company, shows that lower costs and improved access to such space-enabled technologies as PNT and Earth observation services will drive the global space economy that currently is worth $630 billion.
The study, which says backbone applications include satellites, launch vehicles and GPS make up 50 percent of the space economy. The other half will include non-space emerging markets that rely on space such as weather, parcel tracking and food delivery.
While growing mobility will help PNT in the space economy, terrestrial-based alternatives to GPS could emerge, which would cut the ambitious forecast by billions, the report said. Either way, the report said that while broadband communications will be the main moneymaker for space, the PNT market size will grow by 155 percent by 2035.
Iridium Signs Five-Year Contract with L3Harris
Echoing the importance of PNT and fresh of its acquisition of Satelles, Iridium Communications IRDM 0.00%↑ has announced a five-year contract with L3Harris Technologies LHX 0.00%↑ for the Iridium Satellite Time and Location (STL) service. The deal calls for Iridium to provide the STL service to more than 36 L3Harris-operated communication network systems that support Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facilities in the United States.
Iridium says its STL service is a component of the overall network timing architecture that removes dependencies on GPS as a primary timing source. Devices provided by Adtran's Oscilloquartz division, which receive Iridium STL signals, are also included in the solution for L3Harris, the company said.
In other space contracts:
TrustPoint has been awarded a $1.6 million AFWERX contract for advanced resilient navigation applications.
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Google Launches Find My Device Network
In an anticipated announcement, Google GOOG 0.00%↑ this week launched its Find My Device network on Android devices, starting in the United States and Canada.
Google, which is competing with the Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ AirTag, said that users can locate a compatible Android phone and tablet by ringing them or viewing their location on a map in the app, even when they are offline. Pixel hardware, Pixel 8 and 8 Pro owners will also be able to find their devices if they’re powered off or the battery is dead, the company said.
Starting in May, users will be able to find keys, wallets or luggage with Bluetooth tracker tags from Chipolo and Pebblebee in the Find My Device app, the company said. “These tags, built specifically for the Find My Device network, will be compatible with unknown tracker alerts across Android and iOS to help protect you from unwanted tracking. Keep an eye out later this year for additional Bluetooth tags from eufy, Jio, Motorola and more,” said Erik Kay, Google vice president of engineering, in a blog post.
Because people lose items at home—more often than not—the company said the Find My Device app now shows the proximity of the lost item to a home’s Nest device as a reference point. In addition, a share features allows users to have a roommate or others keep an eye on an item in the app.
In terms of security, where Apple’s AirTag has been criticized after stalking incidents (AirTags are getting anti-tracking protection, starting in iOS 17.5.), Find My Device is secure by multi-layered protections built into its network, Google said. “This includes end-to-end encryption of location data as well as aggregated device location reporting, a first-of-its-kind safety feature that provides additional protection against unwanted tracking back to a home or private location,” Kay said.
In the future, with software updates, headphones from JBL, Sony and others will join the Find My Device network, Google said.
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Tesla to Launch Robotaxi This Summer
Elon Musk has announced that Tesla will roll out its own robotaxi this summer. In an X post, the entrepreneur said he would unveil the car on Aug. 8.
Musk previously has said autonomous vehicles would be more popular than human-driven cars. However, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Capability, which is not fully autonomous, has shown that it’s been a longer road for full implementation for the company.
In published reports this week, Tesla settled with the family of a Silicon Valley engineer who was killed when his FSD-equipped car crashed into a highway barrier.
Musk’s autonomous vehicle announcement came on the same day that Reuters reported his company nixed plans to build a Tesla in the $25,000 range. According to published reports, Musk told company employees that he wanted to focus on autonomous vehicles, rather than building a mass-market EV.
The road to fully autonomous vehicles hasn’t been cheap—as Musk admitted to spending more than $10 billion on self-driving projects, including training:
Other Location News
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Top News:
🙁 America Is Losing Its GPS Dominance to China's Beidou Satnav. “While China and the EU have been investing heavily in their GNSS systems, the U.S. military is only making modest improvements to GPS.”
😦 Israel’s Scrambled GPS Signals Turn Life Upside Down. “Traffic jams in the already congested metropolis [Tele Aviv] worsened. Residents ran late for meetings, doctor appointments, school pickups.”
📌 IPS Is Like GPS’ More Accurate, Indoor Cousin. “Indoor positioning systems (IPS) are going to change the way we navigate spaces.”
Maps:
👍 12 Map Happenings that Rocked our World: Part 9. James Killick’s excellent article on map pioneer Etak (now part of TomTom) and its ground-breaking Etak Navigator of the 1980s.
📲 Here's a Feature Google Maps and Waze Should Copy From a Top Alternative. “[Sygic GPS Navigation] created a traffic sign recognition system that uses your phone's camera to read speed limits and "no overtaking" signs, displaying the information on the navigation screen.”
🤨 XPeng Starts Removing HD Maps From Tesla Fsd-Like Feature in China. “It’s now getting a step closer to its American counterpart as it gets rid of high-definition mapping in its XNGP assisted driving feature, its equivalent to Tesla FSD.”
😯 Update Now: Google Maps No Longer Enforced on Android Auto. “An update that shipped last week introduced a change that many believed was the intended behavior on Android Auto. Using navigation commands via Google Assistant forced Google Maps, regardless of the app running on the screen.”
🗺 See Where Americans Went During the Eclipse With Mapbox Movement Data. Mapbox provided The New York Times with Mapbox Movement data for the week before and during the eclipse, focusing on the path of totality:
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Connected and Autonomous Vehicles:
🏛 FCC Proposes Measures to Combat Abuse Through Connected Cars. “The FCC’s efforts build upon previous outreach initiatives, including Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s correspondence with auto manufacturers and wireless service providers earlier this year. The FCC aims to gather insights on the prevalence and nature of connected car services in the market, soliciting feedback on potential regulatory adjustments to address their impact on domestic violence survivors.”
👌 Cruise Resumes Manual Driving, in Phoenix, as Next Step in Return to Driverless Mission. “To that end, Cruise is resuming manual driving to create maps and gather road information in select cities, starting in Phoenix. This work is done using human-driven vehicles without autonomous systems engaged, and is a critical step for validating our self-driving systems as we work towards returning to our driverless mission.”
🚗 Verra Mobility Joins Connected Vehicle Systems Alliance (COVESA).
Drones:
🛩 NYPD Using Drones To Inspect Buildings, Bridges After 4.8-Magnitude Earthquake Felt in NYC. “The NYPD says it generally uses drones to inspect buildings, but after Friday's earthquake, they are using them to inspect the bridges for anything that seems out of place.”
😠 Chinese UAVs ‘Outperform’ US Drones In Ukraine War; WSJ Report Calls US-Made UAVs Fragile & Ineffective. “According to the Wall Street Journal, US-made drones have failed to live up to expectations in the Ukrainian conflict, prompting authorities in Kyiv to reassess their options and turn towards Chinese alternatives for defense needs.”
👍 Shield AI to Acquire Australia-Based Sentient Vision Systems and Establish Shield AI Australia.
Financial:
💲 Waymap Successfully Closes Funding Round Led by TELUS for its Indoor Navigation Technology. London-based tech start-up Waymap has announced the completion of a £7 million funding round led by the TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good.
✔ MODE to Drive Global Expansion With Generative AI and IoT. MODE Inc. has announced it's closing $8.75 million in Series B funding.
🙁 More Bad News For Tesla. “It seems like Tesla's bad first-quarter sales report may not be an isolated incident.”
Location Industry Briefs
Send your news releases to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Topcon Will Integrate GNSS Into Solutions From Bentley Systems and Worldsensing
Topcon Positioning Systems has announced strategic agreements with Bentley Systems and Worldsensing to integrate its GNSS technology into the companies’ software and connectivity solutions. As part of its agreement with Bentley Systems, Topcon will provide access to its web-based GNSS processing engine for Bentley’s iTwin IoT monitoring solution.
pioneer Worldsensing has integrated the Topcon AGM-1 GNSS receiver with its Thread X3 broadband product. The result creates a new Accurate Positioning System to monitor such geohazards as rock falls and landslides in pit mines, rail embankments and other ground structures, the company said.
Contact: Staci Fitzgerald, Topcon Positioning Systems. (925) 245-8610, corpcomm@topcon.com.
Quectel Launches Several Products at Embedded World
Quectel Wireless Solutions launched the BG95-S5 3GPP non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite communication module at Embedded World this week. The module supports 3GPP Release 17 IoT-NTN in the S and L band frequencies for satellite communications. In addition, the multi-mode BG95-S5 supports LTE Cat M1, Cat NB2, eGPRS and integrated GNSS.
Quectel also launched its HCM511S MCU Bluetooth module for compact connected devices. In addition, the company rolled out the RG255C-GL 5G Redcap Sub-6GHz LGA module, delivering 5G and 4G coverage and based on Qualcomm’s QCOM 0.00%↑ Snapdragon X35 baseband chipset.
Contact: Quectel, media@quectel.com, www.quectel.com.
Telit Cinterion and Taoglas Launch Antenna Tuning Reference Design
At Embedded World 2024 this week, Telit Cinterion and Taoglas launched an antenna tuning reference design. The new board Telit Cinterion’s ELS62-W LTE Cat 1 bis + 2G module and Taoglas’ PCS.50.A tunable antenna.
The platform helps device OEMs, IoT service providers and other businesses minimize the expense and lead time of developing and launching smart sensors, wearables, asset trackers and other IoT solutions, the company said. The PCS.50.A combines aperture tuning and active switching technologies to provide wideband coverage for GNSS and most 4G cellular bands, the company said.
Contact: Telit Cinterion, www.telit.com/modules-overview/cellular-lte.
New Descartes MacroPoint Capabilities Help Combat Fraud in Transportation and Logistics
Descartes Systems Group DSGX 0.00%↑ has launched its MacroPoint FraudGuard to help freight brokers, third-party logistics companies (3PLs) and shippers identify and prevent fraudulent activities related to carrier information, load tracking, and shipment status. The new capabilities are now included as part of the subscription for the MacroPoint service, the company said. Carriers can connect with the solution via GPS-based electronic logging device (ELD), transportation management systems (TMS), or mobile app-based tracking methods, the company said.
Contact: Cara Strohack, Descartes, (800) 419-8495 ext. 202025,
cstrohack@descartes.com.
U.S. Department of Transportation's Accelerating Vehicle-to-Everything Cohort
The Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) recently established a cohort of more than 30 public agencies that are deploying V2X technologies. The Accelerating V2X Cohort provides a forum for deployers to share their experiences, challenges, best practices, and documentation with their peers, the agency said.
“Early meetings are addressing such topics as V2X strategic planning and funding; V2X performance measures and benefits; and V2X applications and use cases,” the agency said. The cohort is also discussing open-source V2X tools developed and supported by the U.S. DOT, including the V2X Hub, MAP Creation Tool, TIM Message Creator: Traveler Information Tool, and Operational Data Environment.
Contact: J.D. Schneeberger, ITS Joint Program Office, john.schneeberger@dot.gov, www.its.dot.gov.
Septentrio GNSS Module Integrated By MIKROE
Septentrio’s mosaic-X5 GNSS receiver module has been integrated into a Click board by MIKROE. The new board, called Mosaic Click, is compatible with the mikroBUS socket standard, the company said.
The mosaic-X5 receiver features advanced anti-jamming and triple-band GNSS technology to achieve centimeter-level RTK accuracy, even in challenging environments, the company said.
Contact: Septentrio, www.septentrio.com.
Pebblebee Set to Deliver Google’s Find My Device Compatible Products
Pebblebee has announced it is set to deliver Made for Google certified item locators that work with Android devices and Google’s Find My Device. With a crowdsourced network of more than a billion Android devices, Find My Device can help users find misplaced everyday items, even when they’re offline, the company said. The company is targeting sporting goods, travel, consumer and luxury brands.
Pebblebee’s Made for Google certified card, clip, and tag devices are rechargeable, offer extended range, and are equipped with LED indicator lights and melody alerts, the company said. All devices are OTA (Over-The-Air) updateable through a Pebblebee customized web portal, the company said.
Contact: Donna Loughlin Michaels, for Pebblebee, (408) 393.5575, donna@lmgpr.com, www.pebblebee.com.
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SFL Confirms Successful Deployment of HawkEye 360 Microsatellite Clusters 8 and 9
Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) said that six radio frequency geolocation microsatellites, developed for HawkEye 360 of Herndon, Va., have successfully communicated with ground control. The HawkEye 360 Cluster 8 and 9 satellites were launched this week from Florida aboard the SpaceX Bandwagon-1 Rideshare.
The two new three-satellite clusters bring to 27 the total number of geolocation microsatellites developed by SFL for HawkEye 360. SFL is developing the satellites’ attitude control and formation flying by multiple spacecraft for RF signal geolocation.
Contact: Robert Zee, SFL, (416) 667-7400, info@utias-sfl.net
Avineon Acquires North Point
Avineon has acquired the assets of GIS services provider North Point Geographic Solutions. North Provides GIS services to government agencies, among others. Financial details were not disclosed.
Contact: Anand Subramani, Avineon, (703) 671-1900, asubramani@avineon.com, www.avineon.com.
TRIMEDX Launches GeoSense RTLS
TRIMEDX has launched GeoSense, a Real-Time Location System (RTLS) for health care. TRIMEDX GeoSense provides health systems with medical device tracking data by using next-generation, multi-modal technology that is lightweight, room-level precise and easy to implement, the company said.
TRIMEDX GeoSense offers allows technicians to quickly locate devices for preventative maintenance and repairs and better prioritize workflows to improve service delivery, the company said.
Contact: Andrew Welch, TRIMEDX, (317) 957-5146, andrew.welch@trimedx.com.
Blueiot Recognized in 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Indoor Location Services
RTLS provider Blueiot has been recognized as a Niche Player in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Indoor Location Services. Blueiot locating system applies Bluetooth AoA (Angle of Arrival) technology to bring accuracy levels down to 0.1m, the company said. The company offers AoA anchors, wearable and light-weight tags, engines and application software for tracking vehicles and assets, the company said.
Contact: Blueiot, www.blueiot.com
People
After 40 years in the surveying and positioning industry, Michael Ritter said he will retire at the end of April. He served as Hexagon AB’s president, Autonomous Solutions Division; president of the company’s Autonomy and Positioning division for more than 8 years; and president and CEO of NovAtel for more than 13 years.
ORBCOMM has named Sanjay Hajela as senior vice president, integrated supply chain.
Safran named Pier Michele Roviera as president of space solutions. Roviera previously served as a program director at Blue Origin.
Suhas Chougule has been promoted to director of quality at HERE Technologies.
Jobs
Careers. Airbus.
Senior Project Manager. TomTom.
Product Owner. Trimble.
Staff Product Manager - IOT. Qualcomm.
Strategic Programs Manager. Garmin.
Key Account Manager India. U-blox.
Data Scientist. Mapon.
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