New British systems

[stubby pete]

Heard the back end of a news item on the Radio about the first of about 20 satellites being launched. Idea is to make GPS system we use now obsolete with new technology and mobile phone stuff etc.

Anybody know more about this or when its likely to be up and running?

[off_again]

Its going to take years to get Gallieo up and running. Today was the first and most critical launch. It is supposed to be 2008 before its fully commercially active, though I suspect that there will be devices available before that for a limited trial system (which, lets face it, even this will be sufficient for most users!).

Technology has moved on since they USA deployed GPS in space. The new satellites will be smaller, more accurate, provide better signals and range and require less management. They will also be launched as a commerical enterprise, rather than a military endeavor. Therefore it has been setup to be a business from day 1 and hence the opportunities are coming thick and fast.

The receivers will be smaller and require less power and will be much more accurate. This means that we can have phones which can plot your location within seconds for example. Your car will be able to offer very detailed navigation and direction management (parking as I found out the other day!!!). The list goes on and on....

However, since I just posted about our illustrious media yet again - I have to say that the scare stories that they are perpetrating about Gallieo are just a joke! Twice I heard the news talking about Gallieo being a "spy system" which will be able to "track your every move" and "its all about the terrorists isnt it?".... what rubbish. Its passive and radio based - just like GPS. If you choose to switch the bloody thing off then great - but it has no return channel..... morons.... lets put the European Space Industry back 40 years into the cold war why dont we?....

[rich 36]

The report I listened to this morning mentioned the possibility of less reliance on the present military based hardware, should it revert to their use in hostilities, although quite how that might work either militarily or commercially is anyones guess.

[Tripps]

rich 36 said:

The report I listened to this morning mentioned the possibility of less reliance on the present military based hardware, should it revert to their use in hostilities, although quite how that might work either militarily or commercially is anyones guess.

When GPS was first switched on, the public channels had a purposeful inaccuracy in them, the idea being that the signals would be fine for navigating but no good enough to use for military use in bombings etc. (Some might mention the US bombing is inaccurate anyway, but that's another story).

A some point in the early nineties I think (my guess would be after the first Gulf War) they enabled full accuracy for the system, before that to get an accurate fix you have to get a signal from a fixed receiver that would calculate the inaccuracy and broadcast the correction for it.

Much as you can moan about GPS though, it's free, the European system will be with a £ attached, we'll have to wait and see whether the extra acquisition speed and accuracy justifies it...