GPS World, January 2014

THE ALMANAC BeiDou formerly Compass Constellation SATELLITE NORAD ID PRN LAUNCHED ORBIT NOTES BeiDou M1 31115 C30 4 13 07 MEO period 1289 hours A BeiDou G2 34779 N A 4 14 09 GEO drifting B BeiDou G1 36287 C01 1 16 10 GEO 140 E C BeiDou G3 36590 C03 6 2 10 GEO 1105 E D BeiDou IGSO1 36828 C06 7 31 10 IGSO 118 E 550 incl BeiDou G4 37210 C04 10 31 10 GEO 1600 E BeiDou IGSO2 37256 C07 12 17 10 IGSO 118 E 550 incl BeiDou IGSO3 37384 C08 4 9 11 IGSO 118 E 550 incl BeiDou IGSO4 37763 C09 7 26 11 IGSO 95 E 550 incl BeiDou IGSO5 37948 C10 12 1 11 IGSO 95 E 550 incl BeiDou G5 38091 C05 2 24 12 GEO 5875 E BeiDou M3 38250 C11 4 29 12 MEO period 1289 hours BeiDou M4 38251 C12 4 29 12 MEO period 1289 hours BeiDou M5 38774 C13 9 18 12 MEO period 1289 hours BeiDou M6 38775 C14 9 18 12 MEO period 1289 hours BeiDou G6 38953 C02 10 25 12 GEO 80 E Notes IGSO node longitudes are nominal values Nodes are allowed to drift 3 degrees or so A Inactive B Initially achieved geostationary orbit at a longitude of about 845 E but appears to have become uncontrollable shortly thereafter Librating about the 75 E libration point C GEO formerly at 1445 E shifted to 140 E between about June 30 and July 9 2011 D GEO formerly at 84 E shifted to 1105 E between about November 7 and November 23 2012 BeiDou System Information China fielded a demonstration regional satellite based navigation system known as BeiDou Chinese for the Big Dipper asterism following a program of research and development that began in 1980 The initial constellation of three geostationary Earth orbit GEO satellites was completed in 2003 A fourth GEO satellite was launched in 2007 The initial regional BeiDou system BeiDou 1 is being replaced in stages into a global system known as BeiDou 2 or simply BeiDou and formerly Compass It will include five GEO satellites 27 medium Earth orbit MEO satellites and five inclined geosynchronous orbit IGSO satellites BeiDou 2 was declared operational for use in China and surrounding areas on December 27 2011 FOC for this area was declared on December 27 2012 The system will provide global coverage by 2020 For more information Official BeiDou website English language version http en beidou gov cn Galileo Full Operational Capability FOC satellite first flight model FM1 is prepared for testing within the Maxwell electromagnetic test facility inside the ESTEC Test Centre in August 2013 Galileo System Information Galileo is a joint initiative of the European Commission EC ec europa eu and the European Space Agency ESA www esa int Initially they formed the Galileo Joint Undertaking GJU to manage Galileos development phase The European GNSS Supervisory Authority GSA www gsa europa eu initially headquartered in Brussels Belgium took over Galileo responsibility from GJU on January 1 2007 The headquarters were moved to Prague in the Czech Republic on September 1 2012 The GSAs tasks include management of the first series of satellites to ensure the large scale demonstration of the capabilities and reliability of the Galileo system The first two Galileo satellites will secure the systems frequency allocation and validate key technologies for the full Galileo constellation Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd SSTL www sstl co uk in Guildford United Kingdom constructed the first test satellite Formerly known as the Galileo System Test Bed GSTB V2 A satellite it has been christened Galileo In Orbit Validation Element A GIOVE A and was launched on December 28 2005 The second test satellite GSTB V2 B or GIOVE B constructed by a team led by Astrium GmbH www astrium eads net in Ottobrunn near Munich Germany was launched on April 26 2008 The first two in orbit validation IOV satellites provided by Astrium were launched on October 21 2011 and the third and fourth IOV satellites were launched on October 12 2012 All four IOV satellites are transmitting test signals The satellites were provided by Astrium Transmission of valid navigation messages began on January 17 2013 THE FIRST GALILEO Full Operational Capability satellite emerges from the Phenix test chamber after five weeks of thermal vacuum testing Galileo Constellation SATELLITE NORAD ID LAUNCHED OPERATIONAL SLOT PRN CLOCK NOTES GIOVE A 28922 12 28 05 A GIOVE B 32781 4 27 08 B PFM GSAT0101 37846 10 21 11 12 10 11 B5 E11 H C G FM2 GSAT0102 37847 10 21 11 1 16 12 B6 E12 H D G FM3 GSAT0103 38857 10 12 12 12 1 12 C4 E19 H E G FM4 GSAT0104 38858 10 12 12 12 12 12 C5 E20 Rb F G Notes A Navigation signals from GIOVE A were switched off on June 30 2012 and the satellite decommissioned for ESA use B Navigation signals from GIOVE B were switched off on July 23 2012 and the satellite decommissioned for ESA use C Nicknamed Thijs Switched from hydrogen maser to rubidium clock on August 19 2013 Short transmission outage beginning on September 12 2013 Switched back to hydrogen maser clock D Nicknamed Natalia Switched from hydrogen maser to rubidium clock on August 20 2013 Switched back to hydrogen maser clock on September 12 2013 E Nicknamed David Switched from hydrogen maser to rubidium clock on August 20 2013 Switched back to hydrogen maser clock on September 13 2013 F Nicknamed Sif Switched from hydrogen maser to rubidium clock on August 21 2013 Short transmission outage beginning on September 12 2013 G Galileo underwent a system upgrade between September 11 and October 17 2013 Satellites are currently transmitting valid navigation messages IRNSS Constellation According to the Indian Space Research Organisation the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System IRNSS will consist of three GEO satellites located at 34 E 83 E and 1315 E as well as two pairs of IGSO satellites with their nodes at longitudes of 55 E and 1115 E with an orbital inclination of 29 The first satellite in the planned constellation IRNSS 1A was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 1 2013 at 18 11 UTC The satellite with international designation 2013 034A and NORAD JSpOC identification number 39199 achieved its assigned IGSO on July 18 2013 with a nominal nodal longitude of 55 E and an orbital inclination of 27 Test transmissions started shortly thereafter For more information ISRO website http www isro org pslv c22 mission aspx www gpsworld com January 2014 GPS World 73