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Second Galileo Test Satellite Now in Orbit
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Mon Apr 28, 2008 04:38 PM
from the still-plugging-away dept.
from the still-plugging-away dept.
Simon (S2) writes to mention that Europe's second Galileo navigation satellite reached orbit this past weekend. Galileo is promising to offer several technological advances in comparison to the US-based GPS system but no longer promises to be a guaranteed service. "The Galileo programme now seems certain to go ahead, after a prolonged and painful shift from partly-private financing of the construction to public funds taken from unspent EU farm subsidies. This money would normally have been returned to donor nations, with the UK, Germany and the Netherlands as the biggest three. London MPs have expressed doubt as to whether the UK will receive value for the money it will pay, but have acknowledged that the British government doesn't actually have any choice about Galileo under EU funding rules."
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D Ninja writes "Yesterday, Lockheed Martin was awarded the $1.4 billion Air Force contract to build the next-generation global positioning satellite system. This occurred after a series of delays as the Air Force decided between Lockheed and the competing bidding contractor, Boeing Co. 'GPS III, will give new navigation warfare (NAVWAR) capabilities to shut off GPS service to a limited geographical location while providing GPS to US and allied forces. GPS III will offer significant improvements in navigation capabilities by improving interoperability and jam resistance. The procurement of the GPS III system is planned for multiple blocks, with the GPS IIIA portion currently underway. GPS IIIA includes all of the GPS IIF capability plus up to a ten-fold increase in signal power, a new civil signal compatible with the European Union's Galileo system, and a new spacecraft bus that will allow a growth path to future blocks.'"
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Two?!!? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Two?!!? (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Two?!!? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Two?!!? (Score:4, Funny)
Nope. Canada is our front yard, with well trimmed grass and a white picket fence; the back yard, where the septic tank and broken down cars are located is in the other direction./p.
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Re:Two?!!? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Two?!!? (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Two?!!? (Score:4, Funny)
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
You're either in sight of satellite A, B, both, or neither.
That really narrows it down!
Of course for the case of both, you are probably already in orbit, so that really doesn't count as "on earth".
Lets stick with three then. We can claim a 50% improvement on the number of locations you could be in over the previous 2(can see satellite/can't see satellite).
Whew, and I'm spent. Good job.
Re:Two?!!? (Score:5, Funny)
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London MPs? (Score:5, Insightful)
There are 645 MPs in the UK, of which only 74 are in London. Quite why they should be supposed to have some special insight into Galileo or farming subsidies is beyond me.
Ssh (Score:3, Funny)
Simple: as far as English politics is concerned (and UK politics to a lesser extent), once you pass outside the M25 you enter a deserted wasteland which extends as far as the Channel, the North Sea and the Irish Sea (or possibly the Atlantic, but no Londoner has ever travelled that far to check).
On the other hand, I wouldn't tell them. Just keep quiet and maybe they won't interfere with your life too much.
What if it was GPS augmentation (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Galileo? (Score:5, Informative)
The last part is less of an issue now...
A reason given for Galileo as an independent system was that, though GPS is now widely used worldwide for civilian applications, it is a military system which as recently as 2000 had Selective Availability (SA) that could be enabled in particular areas of coverage during times of war, and therefore Galileo's proponents argue that civil infrastructure, including aeroplane navigation and landing, should not rely solely upon GPS. On May 1, 2000, the President of the United States signed an order disabling SA, and in late 2001, the entity managing GPS confirmed that the intent is to never re-enable selective availability.[14]. Though Selective Availability still exists, on September 19 2007, the US Department of Defense announced that they would not procure any more satellites capable of implementing Selective Availability.[15] This means the next wave of Block IIF satellites launching in 2009 will no longer support SA. As older satellites are deorbited and replaced, as part of the GPS Modernization program, SA will cease to exist. The modernization program also contains standardized features that allow GPS III and Galileo systems to inter-operate, allowing a new receiver to utilize both systems to improve accuracy.
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Re:Galileo? (Score:5, Informative)
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Now that I've got the nationalist pride bullshit out of the way, any system that can provide better and more accurate coverage is certainly welcome in my book. They could call the new satellite system "The Flying Turds" and I'd be ok if it let me get better than accurate to 12 feet.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Galileo? (Score:4, Interesting)
Armies are like guns. They are not dangerous, until you (aim and) pull the trigger.
That being said, as a European, I'm not comfortable with a critical infrastructure like GPS in the hands of the US. The current administration has shown that it is incapable of handling the power and responsibilities that come with being a superpower. Former US presidents warned for the influence of the Military-Industrial complex, but that lesson seems to have been forgotten, resulting in "Bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East".
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
But we are a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
So if we have the most dangerous government in the world, it's because of the people behind that government.
Now Ma, go fetch me my gun so I can get this euroweanie off our front lawn!
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I find this so laughable... (Score:5, Insightful)
Had grain prices gone up slowly, it would have been a good thing. It was the sudden shift to ethanol plus crop problems in several world breadbaskets that pushed up prices. If sufficient grain had been grown locally, it wouldn't be as much a problem (maybe even a plus if they could export and get hard currency for it).
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Personally I think diversity is good! No single organization or country should control a critical piece of technology.
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Re:Wow, time for some EU dissolution... (Score:5, Insightful)
And it while we're at it, lets give the great city of Bristol the power to take back the money for projects *they* don't think are a good idea.
Generally when having a overall budget you do not give the constituent parts the ability to pick and choose. The Galileo project is part of the overall EU budget, therefore the UK doesn't get to second guess the distribution. (never mind that the UK pays far to little into the budget anyway).
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