RNT Foundation Dana A. Goward spoke to 25th meeting of the President's National Space-based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board last week. Citing cases like Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks, his thesis was that, despite knowing about a problem...

Image: UK Aircraft Accident Investigations Branch Blog Editor's Note: We love these 'year end reviews' Guy publishes. He and his LinkedIn group are great sources for information on jamming, spoofing, and interference of all kinds. While we try to keep close track of...

Image: US Air Force US GPS folks are justifiably proud of the system. It is incredibly reliable and well maintained. First designed to "put five bombs down the same hole," folks have figured out how to put its ultra precise timing signals to innumerable uses.  The Air...

The National Space-based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board concluded its first in person meeting in 18 months yesterday. Agendas for the two day public meeting, copies of presentations, and video of the proceedings are available on the group's website...

Loran tower image: UrsaNav Blog Editor's Note: We are seeing more and more consolidations and partnerships within the PNT community. We have also seen larger companies that formerly did not have a strong PNT presence acquiring, or perhaps "absorbing" would be a better...

Image: NASA The President's Space-based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board will meet Thursday and Friday at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. Attending for the first time will be new members:  Lt Gen Michael Hamel (USAF, ret.)...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note:  America has more satellites in space than any other country.  And we are more reliant on satellites for everyday services than any other country. Why wouldn't our adversaries across a broad range from disgruntled hacker to "we...

Image: J. Sherman/NIST Blog Editor's Note: Good to see NIST weighing in on this issue. The high level recommendation that the nation needs a coherent timing architecture that involves space, terrestrial broadcast, and fiber assets is consistent with numerous other...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: Power grids are not one of the things folks first think of when discussing dependence on GPS.  And some grid engineers don't like to admit it. We have heard them say "We don't need GPS to operate the grid, just to manage it." -...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: Perhaps this is a prelude to an invasion of Ukraine.  Regardless the Russians are not bluffing. Our intelligence and Space Force folks here in the U.S. say the Russians (and Chinese) can do it. What's the best way to protect...

Image:  2010 Space debris damage to SolarMax satellite. NASA Blog Editor's Note: OK, we have probably banged the space debris drum enough recently. But this article has the best visuals we have seen anywhere.  And, of course, it makes the really good points about the...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: Everyone likes to talk about tangible problems. We certainly do enough of that in this space each week. It is often interesting to also discuss root causes, because often the problem you are discussing is just a symptom of a...

Image: Kaspersky Blog Editor's Note: An interesting overview video. The presentation was given at September's Kaspersky Industrial Cybersecurity Conference in Sochi, Russia. The presenter is Maxim Borodko, CEO of GPSPatron. As he points out, they have a lot of...

Image: Shutterstock Domestic Preparedness Journal and RNT Foundation sponsored a webinar last week discussing the geo-political implications of what panel member George Beebe has called a "technology resilience gap" between the U.S. and its primary adversaries, China...

Image: NASA Blog Editor's Note: We are heartened to hear that DHS is reevaluating its sector structure and thinking about other ways to look at keeping things safe.  We are even more encouraged to read about a White House official discussing a more holistic, less...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Notes: Two different items on the same underlying theme popped up on our radar recently. The first, an INSA proposal to designate space a critical U.S. infrastructure. The second an OpEd in SpaceNews by two highly respected analysts...

Image: US Department of Defense Blog Editor's Note: There are lots of reasons folks who care about GPS and other GNSS should worry about this. It shows Russia is practising taking out satellites. Space Force and DIA have warned about hunter-killer satellites,...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note:  A very interesting article by Ramsey Faragher and Marek Ziebart.  We have written before about the differences between radionavigation and radiocommunication in conjunction with the Ligado controversy.  This is a very...

Image: NASA Blog Editor's Note: All RNT Foundation members are invited to a reception at 5:30 8 December at the same venue as the Advisory Board meeting, and the Foundation's annual meeting and lunch at noon on the 10th of December at the same location. Both events...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: Interesting report from Black Hat Europe.  While this is the first media report we have seen of a low frequency time signal being spoofed/hacked, it is not surprising. Open systems and signals are vulnerable. Period. Next gen...

Image: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Blog Editor's Note: America used to think space was a safe place, so we put a lot of our most important assets there. We thought GPS was particularly safe because attacking a satellite was hard, and destroying...

Image: Senator Michael Bennet, Colorado (Shutterstock) Blog Editor's Note: Well, China is way ahead of us in hypersonics, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 5G... anything else?  Oh, yeah - where we have one satellite system for PNT, they have three. Where we...

Image: RNT Foundation   Press Release   5 November 2021, 10:00 EST Congressman to Introduce Webinar on Protecting GPS The Honorable John Garamendi (D-CA) will provide opening remarks for a 17 November webinar co-sponsored by Domestic Preparedness Journal and...

Image: Members of the 4th Space Control Squadron stand in front of the Counter Communications System Block 10.2 at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo. Photo: U.S. Air Force Blog Editor's Note: A jammer to jam jammers. A whole lot of jamming goin' on.  Just sayin'.  ...

Image: Former Loran-C transmission antenna at Værlandet, Norway. (Photo: UrsaNav) Blog Editor's Note: Good article by the editor of GPS World magazine. eLoran has been named by numerous studies, including most recently "MarRINav" and the DOT "Complementary PNT and GPS...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: Dr. Alan Grant is a long-time colleague and friend. We are very pleased to see his appointment.     Alan Grant named R&D head of General Lighthouse Authorities November 2, 2021  - By Dana Goward The General...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor’s Note: We received this note the other day from highly respected GNSS expert Logan Scott. We share his concerns and want to pass them along to a wider audience. http://www.gpsexpert.net/ One of the things I find discouraging about US...

Image: Kaspersky/ YouTube Blog Editor's Note: Kaspersky Lab is a world renowned Russian cybersecurity company. Very interesting to have this perspective. Note that the US and EU and some other western governments have banned Kaspersky because of suspicions they may...

Image: Dept of Commerce The RNT Foundation submitted comments to the Department of Commerce this week regarding PNT-related dependencies and risks in the supply chain for the production information and communications technology (ICT) devices. Production of ICT devices...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: GPSPatron wants to help protect you from GNSS spoofing. But many folks are still skeptical. They think spoofing must be pretty difficult and/or expensive. Not something they need to be concerned about. Kinda like ransomware. Not...

Image: NASA Blog Editor's Note: We long accepted the expense and difficulty of putting valuable national assets in space because it seemed a relatively safe place. As Space Force and articles like this remind us, that is no longer the case.  That China and Russia have...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: In the fall of 2019, RNT Foundation organized 14 different maritime organizations petitioning the US Coast Guard to raise the issue of deliberate GPS and GNSS jamming to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).   IMO...

Image: RNT Foundation Blog Editor's Note: Interesting article that includes quotes from our member Hellen Systems and our colleague RADM(ret) Nick Lambert, Royal Navy. One critique. The article states " LORAN has largely fallen out of use..." - Only true if your whole...

Image: RNT Foundation Blog Editor's Note: The author is President of the RNT Foundation.     Senate proposes $15M to develop GPS alternatives October 20, 2021  - By Dana Goward This week Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chair of the Senate Appropriations...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Notes: Really, really interesting piece about the importance of time that also shows the dangers of getting time from only one source. We think it would be a great idea if Americans, like folks in China, Russia, and South Korea, could...

Image: Lockheed- Martin Blog Editor's Note: In-space alternatives to GPS/GNSS are proliferating. Trustpoint is surging forward, per the below article, and Xona is getting ready to put a demo satellite in orbit (full disclosure, Xona is an RNTF corporate member)....

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: We have heard about projects to 5G for positioning. This is the first government-sponsored effort we have come across, though. A promising idea for those areas where there is or will be 5G coverage. Still, it's important to note...

A National Resilient Timing Architecture should include delivery by fiber and RF along with space-based, according to the RNT Foundation.  Image: RNT Foundation   Blog Editor's Note: The author is president of the RNT Foundation. Special thanks to Dr. Pat Diamond...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: The author of the below article is President of the RNT Foundation.     Europe awards seven contracts for alternative PNT demos October 13, 2021  - By Dana Goward   A notice of award was posted Oct. 11 by the...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: Norway has long been beset by Russia jamming GPS in its far north. Now the government of Norway is doing some jamming of its own. But it's not jamming Russia.  It is jamming at home. Two Norwegian press accounts below. One about...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: One of the first questions skeptics ask is "When GPS isn't available, why don't aircraft just use the backup network of terrestrial aviation nav beacons?" - These beacons are called "VORs" and "DMEs," by the way. Well, some...

Image: DJI Phantom 3 from DJI.com Blog Editor's Note: These kinds of papers are published periodically. This one from October of last year is one of the most recent. We thought it would be a good follow-on to the item we posted several days ago about drones falling...

Image: Greenwich Observatory, UK - Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: We are delighted the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN) took time the other day to file a comment to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Request for Information titled "America's Supply Chains...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: DHS, especially the Science and Technology Directorate, continues to be very active providing technical information like this. Once again - well done! We earnestly hope an increasing number of companies will use this information...

Image: Shutterstock Supply chain security has been a big focus of the Biden administration, almost from day one. As part of this, various agencies and departments have been seeking public comment on how to make different supply chains safer, more efficient and more...

Image: 吴文行wenxingwu Here is an interesting item we came across. Seems there was a big drone display/demonstration in Zhengzhou, China when all of a sudden the drones started falling from the sky. To quote the Twitter post: "Word on the street is that a rival drone...

Image: US Army Blog Editor's Note: In many ways the Department of Defense is slowing coming to grips with this issue. Though the recent GAO report shows, as an institution, they have a long way to go. The headline could easily be changed from "Artillerymen" to...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: Dr. Gene McCall is the former Chief Scientist for Space Command. He has always brought interesting perspectives to PNT issues. We are not at all qualified to evaluate the many issues and proposals in his paper. Generally,...

Image Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: We see regular claims that GPS isn't essential. That different modes of transportation have alternate ways of navigating. All true. Yet when GPS equipment isn't working on a passenger aircraft, the flight is delayed until the...

Image: Shutterstock Blog Editor's Note: An interesting article. Army Futures Command has also been looking at this working with the University of Texas Radionavigation Lab. Todd Humphrey also presented about this work along the same lines at ION last week. Also, you...