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Understanding GPS Data Spoofing – No Jitter
Blog Editor's Note: This article is a good overview of spoofing and its potential impacts. The interviewer asks a very good question about incentives for spoofing GPS. While the article provides a general answer, it would be interesting to sit down someday with a...

Time Distribution Papers Sought – URSI in Rome August 2020
Time and navigation are inextricably intertwined. In fact, precise time is essential to most modern navigation and positioning systems. A number of our readers and members focus almost exclusively on the "T" in "PNT". So we thought we would pass along the below note...

Grounded flights, lost drones and ‘crop circles’: the year in GNSS vulnerabilities – Guy Buesnel
Blog Editor's Note: A great "year in review" post by Guy Buesnel, on the Linkedin. Guy is a member of RNTF's International Advisory Committee and leads the GNSS Vulnerabilities group on Linkedin. Grounded flights, lost drones and ‘crop circles’: the year in GNSS...

How to fight jamming – GPS World Editorial Advisory Board
Blog Editor's Note: Two important perspectives from well-regarded PNT community figures. It is interesting to note that the question posed was: "What is or would be the best POLICY response from Congress and/or executive branch agencies to the growing threats to GPS...

Feds Oppose Ligado’s Spectrum Change Petition – Inside GNSS
Blog Editor's Note: Another great job of reporting by Dee Ann Divis. The letter referenced in the article is available on the FCC site here. Several interesting things to note about this: As mentioned by parties on both sides of the issue, it took an exceptionally...

No One Is in Charge – US falling behind protecting GPS/GNSS, civilian users – GPS World
Image credit: RNT Foundation - Without good leadership and direction it is hard to get anywhere. Blog Editor's Note: Full disclosure and as mentioned at the end of the piece, the author is President of the RNT Foundation, US falling behind protecting GPS/GNSS,...

US efforts pointing to coherent, resilient PNT architecture – GPS World
Image: US DOT, National PNT Architecture Study, 2008 Blog Editor's Note: The author of the below is president of the RNT Foundation. US efforts pointing to coherent, resilient PNT architecture December 2, 2019 - By Dana Goward DoT remarks follow China announcement on...

Watch Now: Preparing the Next Generation of GPS, CBS Sunday Morning
The cover story for CBS Sunday Morning on December 1st was "Preparing the next generation of GPS." RNTF President Dana A. Goward is interviewed on this piece. CLICK HERE TO WATCH NOW Rendering of a GPS III satellite in orbit. LOCKHEED MARTIN Guest host: Lee...

GPS Is Easy to Hack, and the U.S. Has No Backup – Scientific American
Graphic: Harry Campbell Blog Editor's Note: RNTF provided several interviews for this article. It provides a good overview of jamming, spoofing, and the fact that Russia, China and others have terrestrial Loran PNT systems, while the US does not. It is another...

David Last, GNSS Expert, Master Wit and Gracious Friend; An Appreciation – Inside GNSS
Blog Editor's Note: A wonderful and warm article about a great man and valued friend. Kudos to Dee Ann for her marvelous research and writing. And appropriate for Thanksgiving Day. All of us who were privileged to know David will have that at the top of our list of...

Professor David Last, World Renown PNT Authority, Presumed Lost At Sea
Just before 13:00 GMT yesterday a private plane piloted by former President of the Royal Institute of Navigation, Professor David Last, disappeared from radar and impacted the sea approximately two miles off the coast of Wales. On-going search and rescue efforts have...

Air Force to Try GPS/ PNT Sat at GEO
The Air Force seems to be on track to experiment with PNT satellites in geostationary orbit. The idea for Navigation Technology Satellite 3 (NTS-3) has been around for a while and notionally scheduled for launch in 2023. Recently the Air Force announced it would be...

Defense Dept Opposes Ligado – Multiple Reports
Blog Editor's Note: Several reports on this in the media. For those interested in this issue, we recommend all three articles as each provides some information not available in the others. Several interesting things to note overall. A pending financial deal in the UK...

Solar Storm: ESA Warns We Can’t Stop ‘Satellite Damage’ and Blackouts If Major Storm Hits – The Express
Blog Editor's Note: Solar weather is the primary reason loss of GNSS appears of the UK risk register. The risk register, in turn, was the impetus for two UK government studies on the impacts of losing GNSS for 5 days (not good at all). As we have mentioned before,...

All systems ‘Go’: How China plans to control space – C4ISRNET
In order to understand China's military approach to space, look to the ancient board game of Go says the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. (Brian Murphy/Defense Intelligence Agency) Blog Editor's Note: A good article that provides some context for the...

Ghost ships, crop circles, and soft gold: A GPS mystery in Shanghai – MIT Tech Review
Blog Editor's Note: A fascinating article about the newest phase in the spoofing wars. No wonder China is focusing on "comprehensive PNT" vice just relying on satellites! Smart Cities Ghost ships, crop circles, and soft gold: A GPS mystery in Shanghai A sophisticated...

China leads world with plan for ‘comprehensive’ PNT – GPS World
Blog Editor's Note - The author of the below is the President of the RNT Foundation. China leads world with plan for ‘comprehensive’ PNT November 15, 2019 - By Dana Goward Speaking at the annual Stanford Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Symposium, a Chinese...

Ligado – Again. RNT Foundation Files to FCC Docket
Blog Editor's Note: Recent press reports about the FCC preparing to act on the Ligado proposal caused us to start thinking about this again. The result was us filing this letter to the docket. 14 November 2019 Re: Ex parte presentation in IB Docket Nos. 11-109...

One man’s mistake, missing backups and complete reboot: The tale of Europe’s Galileo satellites going dark – The Register
Graphic showing Galileo's failure. Pic: Bert Hubert. Blog Editor's Note: An interesting summary/compilation about this summer's Galileo failure. Interesting how the human factor is still so dominant in many of these kinds of mishaps. In aviation we call pilots the...

11 Firms Chosen to Demonstrate GPS Backup Technologies – Inside GNSS
[Diana Furchtgott-Roth, DOT deputy assistant secretary for research and technology, speaks to the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC) meeting in Miami. Photo: Dee Ann Divis] Blog Editor's Note: Another step in the process of the U.S. acquiring the backup for...

Could the world cope if GPS stopped working? – BBC News
Graphic: Getty Images Blog Editor's Note: While not a lot in the below is "newsworthy" for many of our readers, it's a good compilation. It is also encouraging for all of us to see this issue being framed and presented for a general audience. An audience that, for the...

“Unacceptable! Never again!”: EC Deputy on Galileo outage – GPS World
Pierre Delsaux speaks at an EU breakfast on space policy . (Photo: European Union) Blog Editor's Note: The author of the below article is the President of the RNT Foundation. “Unacceptable! Never again!”: EC Deputy on Galileo outage November 5, 2019 - By Dana Goward...

What is spoofing and how can you ensure GPS security? – Aerospace Testing International
Blog Editor's Note: The recent action at ICAO's Assembly declaring GNSS disruption an urgent issue has increased focus on the issue within the aviation community. One note about the below - The author says that the best form of protection from spoofing is with...

FCC may act imminently on Ligado – Inside GNSS
[Photo: Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioner Brendan Carr and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Courtesy FCC.] Blog Editor's Note: Another exceptional job of reporting by Dee Ann Divis. We have heard...

Competition for EU GNSS Interference Detection System Now Open
RNTF Report On the 18th we alerted our readers to the pending announcement of a European Commission procurement of "an advanced interference detection and robustness capabilities system." That announcement was made last week. Information is available on the EU site...

US Army partners with UT Austin, Texas A&M System for advanced PNT – GPS World
Blog Editor's Note: The author is the President of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation. US Army partners with UT Austin, Texas A&M System for advanced PNT October 30, 2019 - By Dana Goward This month, the University of Texas at Austin became a...

GPS Jammed: Russia Is Messing with America’s F-35s – National Interest
Blog Editor's Note: The below is a good compilation of incidents reported by many sources on this topic. We offer it as a refresher and an example of the increasing and broadening awareness of GPS/GNSS vulnerabilities and how they are regularly being exploited by...

Parkinson questions long delay resolving Ligado issue – GPS World
Photo Credit: Rebecca Zia Blog Editor's Note: The author of this article is the President of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation. Parkinson questions long delay resolving Ligado issue October 22, 2019 - By Dana Goward Tells Space Advisory group spectrum...

Army Looking for More Alternative PNT – Inside GNSS & others
Blog Editor's Note: We have seen a number of items in the press recently about the US Army's efforts with resilient and APNT. They have made a big deal about the first installations of MAPS. They are also the Department of Defense executive agent for development of...

Kennedy Space Center – PNT Community Events in November
The Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach, already great destinations, will host three days of PNT events next month. ... 09:00 - 18:00: Kennedy Space Center Tours and Visitor Complex It's the Greatest Space Adventure on Earth! Whether your visit includes training like...

EU contracting for GNSS interference detection network – GPS World
Blog Editor's Note: The author is the president of the RNT Foundation. EU contracting for GNSS interference detection network October 17, 2019 - By Dana Goward Request for proposals to be issued The Official Journal of the European Union (EU) will publish a funding...

LOOKOUT! GPS Rollover Problems Still to Come Nov 3rd for Some Phones and Pads
So, you thought you had survived the once-every-twenty-years GPS rollover event just because nothing bad happened on the 6th of April. You thought you were safe for the next 157 years because the GPS date counter will be increased to 13 bits. Not. So. Fast. It seems...

Prime Meridian Day – 135 years
Sir George Airy established a meridian at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1851 to serve as a common reference for astronomical observations and navigation. By 1884 two thirds of ships were using it as a reference on their charts. US President Chester A. Arthur...

UN Aviation Body: GPS/GNSS Disruption an Urgent Safety Priority – Homeland Security Today
Blog Editor's Note: The author is the President of the RNT Foundation UN Aviation Body: GPS/GNSS Disruption an Urgent Safety Priority October 10, 2019 Dana A. Goward Last week the triennial assembly of the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization...

Extreme solar storms may be more frequent than previously thought – AGU GeoSpace
Blog Editor's Note: The 1859 "Carrington Event" coronal mass ejection was so powerful it induced currents in telegraph wires strong enough to set telegraph offices on fire. A smaller event in 1921 "the NY Railway solar flare" did the same thing to a railway office in...

MITRE, NIST, SAE, Europe, all describing ‘Resilient PNT’
Image: Moon Over Miami, During 2019 ION GNSS+, D.A. Goward The recent meeting of the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee in Miami included a number of interesting presentations. One by MITRE's Dr. Arthur Scholz working for the Homeland Security System...

GPS Threat Watch – Politico Space
Blog Editor's Note: "Politico" is a well known and respected site for information about US national politics. This is the first we became aware of their weekly newsletter focusing on space issues. We signed up to receive it when it is published every Friday. The...

US Department of Defense PNT strategy: ‘GPS is not enough’ – GPS World
Blog Editor's Note: RNT Foundation obtained this strategy document from a Freedom of Information Act request we made earlier this year. To the best or our knowledge and as of this writing, it is not posted on any website other than ours. Links to it are in the text of...

GPS jamming suspected in steep rise of DP incidents – Riviera Maritime Media
Image: Andy Goldsmith (IMCA): "Reference system signal jamming is happening in the Middle East" Blog Editor's Note: "DP" is "dynamic positioning" a capability that some maritime vessels have to automatically maintain a relatively precise position despite the...

“Galileo combined with eLoran would provide a robust technology” – Coordinates Magazine
Blog Editor's Note: RNT Foundation Member and Adviser Prof David Last has a list of credentials and honors in the PNT world too long to list here. Below is a recent interview he did with Coordinates Magazine discussing the recent failure Galileo and the overall need...

In Memoriam – Ronald R. Hatch, Leading Light of the PNT Community
We were saddened to hear of the passing of our colleague and leading light of the satnav community, Ronald R. Hatch. He passed away unexpectedly on Friday several days after a medical procedure. Ron was a member of the U.S. National PNT Advisory Board. The following...

Ultra-Wideband Re-Emerges As GPS Interference Issue – Inside GNSS
Blog Editor's Note: Spectrum is valuable and there is a fixed supply. As long as this is true there will be fierce and unrelenting competition for it. The ultra-wideband issue's resurgence does not bode well for those who hope "the Ligado issue" has been put to bed...

Jam Busters (eLoran & Aviation) – Air Traffic Technology International
Blog Editor's Note: An interesting article with a number of new observations from Dr. Brad Parkinson and Gerhard Berz. For example, we hadn't realized that the DME frequencies were highly desired by others, though it certainly make sense when you stop to think of it....

Lessons to Be Learned From Galileo Signal Outage – Inside GNSS
Blog Editor's Note: Outstanding article that recaps much of what the community has been saying while also providing great additional insights. Peter Gutierrez provides an update that, disappointingly, shows that more than two months after the most significant problem...

Aviation Groups to ICAO – “Urgent Need To Address GNSS Interference”
RNT Foundation Report Pilots, Controllers, Intl Air Transport Associations call for action, cite near-miss The passenger aircraft was making an approach to the airport serving the ski resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho in the North American Rockies. An “abundance of...

Royal Institute of Navigation – Intl Nav Conf Program Published
The Royal Institute of Navigation's annual International Navigation Conference is unique in both the breadth of navigation issues discussed, and the quality of the program. The program for this year's event to be held 19 -21 November in Edinburgh, Scotland, has...

‘China to Target GPS First in Cyber War’ – Senator Sasse
Sen Ben Sasse - Getty Images Blog Editor's Note: One might discount some claims by politicians as being a bit overblown for the purpose of making headlines. We might take this warning from Senator Sasse (R-NE) a bit more seriously. Sasse is a member of the...

Find GPS’ Thousands of Uses Everyday
GPS/GNSS is an invisible utility that supports every facet of modern life. Click on the graphic below, mouse around this airport lobby and find some of the many things that use and rely on GPS/GNSS every day. A link to this application is also available on the RNT...

DOT Contracting for GPS Backup Demos – FedBizOpps
Blog Editor's note: This request for quotations is what the community has been expecting for a while, and in response (finally) to a mandate in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. In remarks yesterday at a meeting of the Civil GPS Services Interface...

Senators Cruz, Markey Question DOT Secretary on GPS Backup Progress
Image: Senators Cruz and Markey discuss GPS backup need with RNT Foundation Board (Photo by Gary Thomas) RNTF Report In a letter dated the 10th of September, Senators Cruz and Markey questioned the Secretary of Transportation about progress meeting the requirements of...