SpaceX Signs Contract to Launch Galileo Satellites
Elon Musk’s launch company will blast up to four satellites on two launches next year.
SpaceX has signed a deal to launch as many as four Galileo navigation satellites into orbit next year, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. However, the European Commission has to give the final go ahead for the contract.
If the deal goes through the satellites will be launched onboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets from the United States, said the report, which quoted Javier Benedicto, the European Space Agency’s director of navigation. The contract’s financial details were not disclosed.
It’s been a tough road for Galileo as Europe ended its relationships with Russia, which was to launch its satellites, when it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Another option, the Ariane 5, was retired—and the Ariane 6 has been delayed.
“We had a couple of launches planned for mid-2022—and were ready to launch [onboard Russian Soyuz launch vehicles]. Then the war in Ukraine started,” said Eric Chatre, European Commission head of Galileo Second Generation Project Office, at an ION conference.
One interesting point that the Journal article made was that SpaceX is launching satellites with classified payloads from a non-U.S. entity.
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California Shuts Down Cruise Deployment and Testing Permits, Waymo Partners With Uber in Phoenix
Saying the company withheld video footage of a recent traffic incident, the California Department of Motor Vehicles this week suspended GM GM 0.00%↑ Cruise’s deployment and testing permits. The suspension comes only a couple of months after the company was granted full commercial rollout by the state.
At issue is video footage that the company allegedly withheld after an incident where a pedestrian was struck by a human-driven car and pinned under a Cruise robotaxi.
“The embarrassing turn of events renders specious Cruise's claims that its vehicles operated in a manner safer than human-operated vehicles,” said industry veteran Roger Lanctot, in a LinkedIn column. “It's clear that it will take the coordinated efforts of humans - working for Cruise and coordinating with the first responder community - to put its robotaxis back on the road and in good graces with local regulators.”
For its part, Cruise said, “[t]his incident will be included in future suites of simulation tests to allow the vehicle to better determine if it should pull over safely or stay in place, and to validate that the AV’s behavior remains safe and reasonable.”
While Cruise is getting hammered by regulators, competitor Waymo has been making a few deals. In one of them, Uber UBER 0.00%↑ customers can now catch a Waymo robotaxi ride in Phoenix.
Waymo says that Uber customers “can get matched with a fully autonomous, all-electric Waymo ride — with no human driver behind the wheel—in the 225+ square miles of Metro Phoenix where Waymo currently operates.” The company says that tens of thousands of riders hail its Waymo Driver robotaxis each month in Phoenix, many of which go to Sky Harbor airport.
The company said that riders can still hail its robotaxis through its Waymo One app, which is available in metro Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and soon, Austin.
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AI Helps Google Maps to Expand Existing Features
In an announcement this week, Google Maps GOOG 0.00%↑ said artificial intelligence has allowed it to expand its EV charging station feature, make recommendations of nearby activities and provide more in-depth visualization.
Earlier this year, the company announced Immersive View for routes—and is expanding this week to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo and Venice on Android and iOS, said Chris Phillips, vice president and general manager of the Geo division, in a company blog.
Immersive View allows turn-by-turn directions, a time slider to plan when to head out based on information, simulated traffic and weather conditions, the company said.
Google Maps also updated its Lens in Maps feature, formerly called Search with a Live View, which uses AI and augmented reality to allow users to find information about ATMs, transit stations, restaurants, coffee shops and stores. Lens in Maps is coming to more than 50 new cities including Austin, Las Vegas, Rome, São Paulo and Taipei, the company said.
Also starting this week, with cars with Google built-in, EV drivers on Android and iOS will now see more charging station information, including whether a charger is compatible with their vehicle and whether the available chargers are fast, medium, or slow, Phillips said.
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Other Location News
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Top News:
😦 Google Maps and Waze Temporarily Disable Live Traffic Data in Israel. “Google GOOG 0.00%↑ is temporarily disabling live traffic conditions on its mapping service apps, Google Maps and Waze, in Israel, the tech company confirmed Monday, as the country prepares for a potential ground invasion into Gaza.”
🤞 Boeing Accelerates 1,800 GPS-Guidance Bomb Kits to Israel. “Boeing BA 0.00%↑ is speeding delivery to Israel of as many as 1,800 kits that convert unguided bombs into precision munitions, according to congressional aides and a U.S. official.”
✔ Urgently Announces Successful Closing of Merger With Otonomo Technologies.
🛳 Hapag-Lloyd Installs 700,000th Tracking Device on Its Container Fleet. “Hapag-Lloyd has now installed 700,000 tracking devices on its container fleet, putting the company on course to having the largest smart container fleet in the world once it fully equips all 1.6m dry containers.”
🚘 PTV Group Pilots Its First Hardware Solution in the UK Under Umovity Banner.
Maps:
👍 Apple Maps Expansion Continues. “Users get upgraded navigation that includes traffic lights and stop signs, along with a more detailed look at the roads included in the suggested routes. Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ is rolling out the new experience to users worldwide in stages, and this week, the company announced that the new Apple Maps is live in Hong Kong.”
🚗 Volvo's EX30 With Google Built-in Passes New EU Speed Limit Warning Requirements. “The Google built-in and Maps software in the new Volvo EX30 EV makes the automaker’s driver speed warning system more accurate — allowing it to pass certification on the EU’s new General Safety Regulation law.”
✔ Microsoft Pledges $150k to Support OpenStreetMap.
🙂 Huge Google Maps Annoyance on Android Auto Finally Gets a Fix. “Google Maps might be the world's number one mobile navigation app, also dominating the Android Auto space, but it doesn’t mean it's a flawless piece of software.”
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Connected and Autonomous Vehicles:
😕 Robotaxis 'Do Not Belong in the City of Los Angeles,' Lawmaker Says. “At a press briefing on Wednesday, Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez told Waymo and Cruise that their robotaxis are not welcome.”
😮 Ford Beats Tesla in In-Depth Adas Testing, While Volvo and Polestar Deliver Bottom-Of-The-Barrel Results. “Tesla TSLA 0.00%↑ seems to have let its base Autopilot ADAS technology fall by the wayside while it's been busy working on FSD Beta.”
Tracking:
⚡ Samsung Launches Galaxy SmartTag2 Location Tracker. “The Galaxy SmartTag2 features an ultrawide-band chip for location tracking function.”
Drones:
🛩 Honeywell, Hyundai Motor Group’s Supernal To Develop Ground Control Station For Uncrewed Aircraft Testing. Honeywell HON 0.00%↑ technology will help bring beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations to Supernal’s fleet of aircraft.
Financial:
✔ Lockheed Martin Reports Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results.
✔ Comtech Closes Out Strong Fiscal Year.
✔ Mobileye Shares Jump as Third-Quarter Earnings Top Estimates.
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Location Industry Briefs
Send your news releases to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
CNH Completes Purchase of Hemisphere GNSS
CNH Industrial C 0.00%↑ NHI has completed its purchase of Hemisphere GNSS for $175 million. The acquisition, announced on March 30, 2023, strengthens CNH’s in-house precision, automation and autonomy technology for the agriculture and construction industries. Last year, CNH Industrial, which purchased U.S-based Raven for $2.1 billion in 2021, separated its truck and bus unit, Iveco Group, to focus on machinery and construction equipment, according to Reuters.
Contact: CNH Industrial, www. www.cnhindustrial.com.
U-blox Reaches 25 Million LTE-M Module Sales
Thalwil, Switzerland-based u-blox [UBXN] has announced that it has sold 25 million LTE-M cellular modules. The first u-blox LTE-M module, the u-blox SARA-R4, was announced in 2016.
The company’s LTE-M modules are marketed to developers in the aftermarket telematics, connected healthcare and asset tracking markets. "LTE-M was the first 4G technology optimized to meet power consumption, performance, and cost requirements for many important industrial IoT applications," says Stephan Zizala, u-blox CEO, in a statement.
Contact: Natacha Seitz, u-blox, 41 76 436 0788, natacha.seitz@u-blox.com, www.u-blox.com.
Septentrio Announces Open-Source Projects
Septentrio has announced two open-source hardware projects available to integrators of satellite-based positioning. The first project, mosaicBus, is a reference design of a board compatible with mikroBUS. The second project, called mosaicAlto, is a carrier board embedding the mosaic-X5 or mosaic-H GNSS receivers, which transforms Arduino Pro “Portenta” into a single-board computer with a GPS/GNSS receiver, the company said.
Contact: Septentrio, www.septentrio.com.
Pedigree Technologies Rolls Out Smart Trailer Applications
Pedigree Technologies has introduced smart trailer applications that leverage Bluetooth sensors and solar-powered GPS gateways for fleet managers. Trailers equipped with these solutions transmit data to the cloud, which is then relayed to the OneView platform, the company said.
The new solution allows fleet managers to track the location of their trailers. Sensors placed within and around the trailer provide a continuous stream of fleet information, the company said.
Contact: Jessica Slyter, Pedigree Technologies, jessica.slyter@pedigreetechnologies.com.
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Garmin Introduces Chartplotter Series
Garmin GRMN 0.00%↑ has announced the ECHOMAP Ultra 2 chartplotter series designed with advanced features for inland and nearshore anglers, the company said. The products offer 10- or 12-inch sunlight-readable touchscreen with keyed assist, they put UHD scanning sonar and preloaded Garmin Navionics+ mapping, the company said.
The charts include multi-band GPS technology with 10Hz updates to provide improved position accuracy for fishers along bluffs or in coves with tree cover.
Contact: Carly Hysell, (913) 397-8200, media.relations@garmin.com, www.garmin.com.
GeoComm Partners With RapidSOS
GeoComm’s Vertical Location Services will power a RapidSOS Floor Estimator feature for 9-1-1 calls from Android-based devices. The feature allows RapidSOS customers to convert raw z-axis position measurements into a dispatchable location, the company said. When a 9-1-1 call is received at an Emergency Call emergency call takers are able to view z-axis location information in an actionable format, the company said.
Contact: Susan Becker, GeoComm, (320) 381-2169, sbecker@geocomm.com, www.geocomm.com.
Pasternack Launches IoT Antennas
Pasternack has launched its IoT multiband combination antennas that are designed for vehicles, fleets and pivotal base stations. The antennas feature 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi and GPS bands within a singular radome.
The antennas offer dedicated connectivity ports for 4G/5G, Wi-Fi, and GPS. Their GPS/GNSS component, enhanced with LNA and amplified by a 26 dB gain, offers navigation and tracking precision, the company said.
Contact: Peter McNeil, Pasternack, (978) 682-6936.
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People
Logan Scott has been named to the President’s National PNT Advisory Board.
Jamie Curtin joins Sanborn as executive vice president for strategy and business development.
Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association has named Renée Gibson as director of government affairs.
Mysore Madhusudhan has been named president at Tata Communications.
Ingo Stürmer has been named CTO at Einride Autonomous Technology.
D. Scott Hutchison has been named vice president of sales for FAAC Technologies' Parking Business Unit in North America.
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