GLONASS constellation back to full strenght
GLONASS 743, recently moved from orbital slot 2 to orbital slot 8, was set healthy on March 5 at 07:28 Moscow Time according to NAGU 017-130305. Although the NAGU states that Moscow Time is three hours ahead of UTC (and this is the time difference normally used for GLONASS as stipulated in the GLONASS ICD), officially, it is actually four hours and has been since the switch to year-round daylight saving time on 27 March 2011. In this case, the NAGU appears to be in error since GLONASS 743 was actually set healthy at 03:28 UTC and not at 04:28 UTC. This is confirmed by Roscomos monitoring and by the navigation data collected by stations of the International GNSS Service (IGS). There are once again 24 healthy GLONASS satellites on orbit.
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GLONASS today and tomorrow
Since December 2011, the GLONASS system has been fully operational, providing worldwide service with 100 percent global availability and acceptable accuracy for most users. The system is globally accepted by many users, and most leading manufacturers include GLONASS in their devices.
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Second pair of Galileo IOV satellites launched
A Soyuz ST-B launcher carrying two Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites took off as scheduled at 18:15 GMT (20:15 CEST; 2:15 p.m. EDT) on October 12 from the European Spaceport in French Guiana.
All the stages of the Soyuz vehicle performed as planned and the Fregat-MT upper stage released the Galileo satellites into their targeted orbit close to 23,200 kilometer altitude, three hours 45 minutes after liftoff.
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Two Compass satellites launched
China successfully launched two BeiDou-2/Compass MEO satellites Tuesday at 19:10:04 UTC. The satellites are designated Compass-M5 and Compass-M6. They are also referred to BeiDou-14 and BeiDou-15.
Read more at insideGNSS
Next Galileo satellites reaches launch site
The next Galileo navigation satellite has touched down at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, to begin preparations for its launch in October, reports the European Space Agency.
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GLONASS Designer awarded
The Royal Institute of Navigation has awarded the Duke Of Edinburgh’s Navigation Award for Technical Achievement to Professor Nicolai Testoedov, who received it on behalf of Yuri Urlichich, the chief designer of GLONASS, “in recognition of the achievement of a complete operational constellation of satellites in December 2011, thus providing a full global positioning and timing service.
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Two new Compass satellites in orbit
China successfully launched two Compass satellites into space at 4:50 a.m. Beijing Time on Monday, April 30 (20:50 UTC, April 29).
Designated Compass M3 and M4, these are the 12th and 13th of its second-generation Beidou-2 spacecraft to reach orbit and the second and third middle-Earth-orbiting (MEO) spacecraft launched by China’s GNSS program.
Read more at InsideGNSS
Two More GLONASS Birds to Fly in 2012
Russia will launch two GLONASS satellites in 2012, Ria Novosti reports, citing the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos.
The GLONASS constellation now has 24 operating satellites, with four in reserve and one undergoing trials.
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$655 Million for GLONASS in 2012
Russia’s GNSS program plans to launch three more satellites in the first half of 2012 as part of a 20.55 billion ruble (US$655 million) federal target program budget for the coming year, the Roscosmos space agency announced on January 17.
Read more at Inside GNSS
China launches 10th Compass Satellite
China launched its 10th Compass/ BeiDou-2 GNSS satellite this morning (December 2, 2011). This is the third Compass satellite launched this year and the fifth placed into an inclined geosynchronous orbit.
Read more at Inside GNSS
Russia Adds Another Satellite to GLONASS Constellation
Russia launched a single GLONASS-M satellite into orbit on Monday (November 28, 2011) from the Plesetsk space center north of Moscow. This is the fifth and the last launch of a GLONASS satellite this
year, according to the Russian Federal Space Agency.
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GLONASS Trio in Orbit
Russia launched a Proton-M rocket carrying three GLONASS-M satellites from the Baikonur space center at November 4 after a 24-hour delay due to technical reasons, a spokesman for the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said.
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They Are Up! Galileo Launches First IOV Satellites
The first two Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites started their missions just moments after separating from the Fregat upper stage of their Soyuz launcher. Following the liftoff of Soyuz VS01 at 12:30 CEST (7:30 a.m. EDT), all of the Soyuz stages performed perfectly and the Fregat-MT upper stage released the Galileo satellites into their target orbit at a 23,222-kilometer altitude, 3 hours 49 minutes after liftoff.
Read more at Inside GNSS
GLONASS-M Satellite Successfully Launched
Russian news agency RIA Novosti has reported a successful launch on Sunday of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket from Plesetsk carrying a single GLONASS-M satellite into orbit. Launch time had been scheduled for 20:15:14 UTC. RIA Novosti reported launch time as 00:15 Moscow Time (now permanently 4 hours ahead of UTC summer and winter).
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Galileo Launch Date Set for October 2011
Two Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites will comprise the first launch on a modified Soyuz rocket from the European Union’s spaceport in French Guiana.
Read more at Inside GNSS
China Launches 8th Compass/BeiDou-2 Satellite
Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, reported today (April 10, 2011) that China launched the eighth Compass/BeiDou-2 satellite on a 3A Long March carrier rocket at 4:47 A.M. Sunday from Xichang launch center in Sichuan Province.
Read more at Inside GNSS
Gecko Systems Introduces New GNSS Tracker
Gecko Systems reveals its next generation GNSS tracker called Tokay. The tracker has unprecedented satellite receiving capabilities. It can use the GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO and COMPASS satellite constellation simultaneously to determine the position. This enables better satellite visibility even in harsh environments and significantly improves the positioning reliability and accuracy. Additionally it has a quad-band modem and support for two SIM cards for flexible cellular connectivity when crossing country boarders, for example.
Russia’s First GLONASS-K Is Up and In Orbit
The first new generation satellite GLONASS-K of the GLONASS navigation system has reached its targeted orbit, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) announced today (February 26, 2011).
Read more at Inside GNSS
