U.S. FY14 Budget Pares GPS Appropriations

As reported by Inside GNSS: The GPS program sustained a cut of more than six percent from the levels in the president’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14), increasing the likelihood that the Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX) will be delayed and putting pressure on budgets in future years to make up for cuts to modernization efforts.

Congress made combined reductions of $67 million in GPS-related Department of Defense (DoD) line items out of a total White House request for $1.276 billion — some 5.3 percent. The depth of the cut jumps a bit, however, when cuts in the civil contribution to GPS are taken into account.

The Obama administration had asked for $20 million for the Department of Transportation’s (DoT’s) payment into the GPS program — money that goes primarily toward upgrading the ground segment and support for new civil signals. Lawmakers in the House cut the civil request entirely while those in the Senate gave the budget item a mere 25 percent haircut to $15 million.

In the end, House lawmakers appear to have persuaded their Senate colleagues to adopt their point of view, holding the civil contribution to just $6 million for fiscal year 2014. When the civil contribution is taken into account, the total reduction in appropriations for GPS is over six percent.

The main effect of the shortage in civil money will be delays in work on the OCX, which is integral to benefiting from the capabilities of the GPS Block III satellites and new civil signals.

“The impact of the reduced civil contribution to OCX will slow software development and testing,” the U.S. Air Force said in a written response to a question from Inside GNSS about the significance of the cuts. “However, the impact is recoverable,” they said, “if appropriations over the next two years fulfill the agreed to funding commitments.”

The prospects for full restoration of civil funding, however, seem dim. The budget line has been cut repeatedly since 2011 with the request more than halved for the last two years. From an original plan that should have seen $40 million or more contributed each year by the civil community, Congress allocated only $19 million in both 2012 and 2013 out of a $50.3 million and a $40 million request, respectively.

DoD, DoT Differences on Civil Funds
A further complication arises from a very long — and so far unresolved — back-and-forth between the departments of defense and transportation over what exactly the civil money is to pay for. Without clarity on what civil appropriations buys and what the likely consequences of further cuts would be, the chances that Congress will be convinced to support more funding appear sharply reduced.

“DoT looks forward to continuing to provide input on GPS requirements from the civil sector to the Air Force,” the agency said in written response to Inside GNSS. “DoT will work with DoD to assess programmatic and schedule impacts to ensure that we continue implementation of the civil signal monitoring requirement.”

The Pentagon is in a tougher spot this year with regard to its own funding and will be less likely to be able to make up any deficiencies. Although the congressional authorizing committees approved the entire White House request for GPS, the appropriators cut everything but procurement of the GPS IIF satellites — $56 million. The request for GPS III procurement was cut by $27 million to $450.6 million. Also downsized was the request for GPS III development — trimmed by $20 million to $201.3 million.

“The impacts from the FY 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act reductions to the GPS program are consistent with efficiencies across the space portfolio,” said the Air Force. “The $67M in cuts to the GPS Enterprise are targeted at a variety of programs with varying impact. The most significant reduction is to the procurement of long lead items. Although not likely to delay production, it will defer these costs to future years.”

Slowdown in GPS Modernization?
The exact reasons for the cuts are unclear. The House said the advance procurement money for the ninth GPS III spacecraft and beyond was “ahead of need.” It gave a similar reason for its proposed cut from GPS III development. The Senate was “eliminating program management growth,” citing a desire to “maintain program affordability.” The explanation accompanying the final budget agreement used similar language to describe the decisions. The House and Senate committees did not respond to queries about the decisions by press time.

The financial decisions may hint at a further slowing of GPS modernization. Defense managers were already replacing satellites on an as-needed basis, launching only when one of the famously long-lived GPS satellites started to fail.

The anticipated mission duration of each of the 19 IIR and IIR-M satellites is now expected to be longer by one to two years as a result of revised battery-charge control rates. Those satellites make up more than half of the current constellation. Although budget-smart, delaying launches also delays modernization at a time when other, potentially competing, DoD constellations are coming online.

Independent sources have confirmed that finding savings is a top priority, a point underscored by military officials.

“Due to fiscal realities, the Air Force has implemented cost saving measures while continuing modernization efforts across the GPS Enterprise,” the Air Force told Inside GNSS. “Furthermore, the Air Force is maintaining our commitment to National Security users and the larger civil community for a baseline GPS satellite constellation requirement of 95% functional availability of a 24-satellite constellation. The Air Force works with OSD (the Office of the Secretary of Defense) and Congress to ensure the GPS enterprise continues to be adequately funded to meet these requirements.”

Caught in the middle is the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT), a key hub for working through interagency GPS issues. The NCO gets its funding from both DoD and DoT and has already taken budgetary hits over the last several years.

“We suspect we’ll have to deal with smaller budgets like all the other departments,” said Acting NCO Director Col. Harold "Stormy" Martin, although “all the ramifications” of the 2014 budget “have not played out.”

The budget pressures driving the cuts will continue, said federal budget expert Stan Collender, although improvements in the overall federal deficit outlook should reduce the pressure to ratchet spending down beyond what is already planned through measures such as “sequestration,” which lasts through 2021.

“The best way to look at this is that where these programs are now, for the most part, is where they are going to be for the next five years,” said Collender, who is national director of financial communications for Qorvis Communications.

“In general what you would expect on appropriations, defense and domestic, is that there is going to be a lot of pressure on all spending programs,” Collender told Inside GNSS. “Some will do a little bit better, some will do a little bit worse, but there is not a big windfall in additional cash coming anytime soon. And I mean through 2020. So you're going to find a lot of programs squeezed, and squeezed and squeezed again over the next five years.”

Israeli Pilots Jailed For Storing Sensitive Maps On Smartphones For Convenience

Israeli soldiers use their phones to send text messages at a bus
stop in Mevaseret Zion, near Jerusalem.

As reported by The Guardian: Two Israeli combat pilots have been jailed for five days and 12 others disciplined for storing operational maps on their smartphones.

Military authorities discovered the security breach after one of the pilots reported that he had lost his mobile phone and that it contained sensitive data, Israeli Army Radio reported on Wednesday.

The phone was recovered, the report said, and investigators found he had loaded maps and other classified documents.

Other members of his squadron had done the same so they could have the information readily at hand, the radio said.

The 14 pilots were court-martialled: two were sent to jail, 11 received suspended sentences and one was fined.

GPS Satellite Mounted Atop Booster For Feb. 20 Launch

As reported by Space Flight Now: Beginning a slate of three launches in five months to fortify the Global Positioning System, the first craft was mounted atop its Delta 4 booster rocket Wednesday for liftoff Feb. 20.

The launch is precisely timed at 8:40 p.m. EST to replace a 16-year-old member of the navigation network -- the GPS 2A-28 satellite. The evening launch opportunity extends 19 minutes.

Built by Boeing, the new GPS 2F-5 satellite brings with it modernized features including greater accuracy, better anti-jamming and a civil signal for commercial aviation as the fifth Block 2F bird.

Crews transported the satellite to Complex 37 overnight and lifted it into the gantry. The initial stage of attachment of the craft onto the upper stage of the rocket was completed.

The Air Force and partner United Launch Alliance plan to launch GPS 2F-6 in May on another Delta and GPS 2F-7 on an Atlas 5 in July.

The Feb. 20 launch is headed for Plane A, Slot 3 of the constellation where it will become a primary spacecraft to transmit navigation and timing to military and civilian users around the globe. The satellite currently in that slot will be moved into a backup role for remainder of its useful life.
It will be the 25th Delta 4 launch and the fourth with a GPS satellite. ULA intends to conduct four flights of the Delta 4 this year.

 The launch was delayed from October while engineers ran additional tests and analysis on the low-thrust condition experienced on the successful GPS 2F-3 flight.

"The delay of the GPS 2F-5 was not related to any new observation from the GPS 2F-3 launch. The Phase II investigation of the GPS 2F-3 flight telemetry continues the analysis from Phase I with the goal to thoroughly confirm there are no systematic issues with RL10B-2 engine," the Air Force says.

"Over the last several months, the team has continued testing and analysis which has increased our understanding and confidence in the conclusions of the GPS 2F-3 flight telemetry and the conclusions from Phase I."

Investigators believe a tiny fuel leak developed at the first ignition of the upper stage engine, resulting in lower-than-expected thrust and longer burn times. It is possible there were low-frequency dynamic responses that occurred on the engine system during ignition.

Additional inspections, in-flight helium purges to critical areas of the engine system and changes to how the engine is thermally conditioned during ascent to prepare for its initial ignition have been put in place to mitigate the risks.

GPS is marking the 20th anniversary of its Initial Operational Capability, the point in which the constellation was populated sufficiently to go into service.

"GPS has grown to become a vital worldwide utility serving billions of users around the globe. GPS multi-use Precision Navigation and Timing services are integral to the United States global security, economy, and transportation safety, and are a critical part of our national infrastructure," the Air Force says.

"GPS contributes vital capabilities to our nation's military operations, emergency response, agriculture, aviation, maritime, roads and highways, surveying and mapping, and telecommunications industries, as well as recreational activities. It is not an overstatement to say GPS is fundamental to today's technical infrastructure and culture."

Car Communication Systems To Be Required As U.S. Weighs Rules

As reported by Bloomberg Technology: U.S. regulators will propose rules before President Barack Obama leaves office requiring vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems in new cars, a move advocates said may aid safety more than seat belts and air bags.

“Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology represents the next generation of auto safety improvements,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said at a news conference today. “The potential of this technology is enormous.”

Technology companies including Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) are among those vying to build the architecture for the connected car of the future. Google Inc. and Tesla Motors Inc. are among companies looking at employing automated systems that could be precursors to self-driving cars.

The technology would let cars automatically exchange safety data such as speed and position 10 times per second and send warnings to drivers if an imminent collision is sensed, the Transportation Department said in a statement today. The systems being envisioned won’t be able to operate brakes or steering, though such technologies are being studied.

The technology’s price is dropping and its effectiveness is improving, said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book. It will take years to work out the how the devices work outside the lab and the degree to which they will control vehicles, he said in an e-mailed statement.

‘Connected Fleet’
“The full transition from our current vehicle fleet to a connected fleet will take at least 10 years, and like any new technology, the early stages of the transition will be fraught with glitches,” Brauer said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. auto-safety regulator, released in May its draft of a policy that encouraged development of technologies that could be components of autonomous vehicles.

It conducted a pilot project in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to test short-range communication technologies that it has said could prevent, or reduce in severity, as many as 80 percent of crashes involving non-impaired drivers. About a third of U.S. highway fatalities are alcohol-related.

“The vision of talking cars that avoid crashes is well on the way to becoming reality,” Scott Belcher, president of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, said in a statement. The Washington-based trade group includes companies such as Honda Motor Co. (7267), Siemens AG, AT&T Inc. and TomTom NV.

Crash-Imminent Braking
David Strickland, who stepped down as NHTSA administrator last month, said in May that the agency was looking at whether to regulate crash-imminent braking, a technology featured in a number of luxury models that applies brakes automatically if sensors indicate a crash is about to occur.

Vehicle-to-vehicle systems would go a step beyond such systems by allowing communications to take place between cars, or between a car and the road.

Today’s announcement begins a three-year period of intensive, more-focused research and consultations with the industry that will lead to a proposed regulation, NHTSA Acting Administrator David Friedman said.

The “game-changing” technology has now been demonstrated as reliability and capable of saving lives, Friedman said. Automakers, their suppliers and tech companies had been waiting for a signal that regulators were ready to write long-term plans, and they’ll react favorably to today’s Transportation Department decision, Foxx said.

Reserved Wireless Spectrum
Among the issues to be settled: how much access non-automotive users would have to the frequencies to be designated for use in vehicle-to-vehicle communications. Both the Transportation Department and the Federal Communications Commission will have to carefully evaluate any potential interference with the safety-critical systems.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, representing automakers includingGeneral Motors Co. (GM) and Toyota Motor Corp., cautioned that the FCC should reserve the airwaves for “safety-critical auto systems until thorough testing is completed.”

Automakers have to work with companies that are trying to fit unlicensed Wi-Fi devices on the same frequency, said Michael Stanton, president and chief executive officer of the Association of Global Automakers.

“Communication delays of even thousandths of a single second matter when dealing with auto and highway safety,” Stanton said.

‘Wi-Fi Demand’
The Telecommunications Industry Association welcomed the end of an almost “15-year development cycle” and noted that technology companies were looking to share the designated frequency “to meet exploding Wi-Fi demand.”

“We look forward to working with the FCC and other federal agencies to determine how other low-power unlicensed technologies such as Wi-Fi can share this radio spectrum,” the Arlington, Virginia-based group, whose members include Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) andAlcatel-Lucent (ALU), said in a statement.

The Transportation Department today said the technology it envisions won’t track vehicle movements or allow the exchange of personal information. It would allow cars to be identified only for the purposes of fixing safety flaws.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, raised concerns in May that the communications advances being discussed could make cars vulnerable to hacking.

A Hacker Found GPS Data in the Audio of This Police Chase Video

As reported by Gismodo: It's incredibly noisy in the cockpit of a helicopter, and you'd assume the sounds you hear in any YouTube police chase video were just the deafening whine of the chopper's engine. But as one hacker discovered, that monotonous drone can actually hide some useful data, like the helicopter's GPS coordinates.

Watching cockpit footage of a police helicopter chase in Kansas City, Oona Räisänen noticed some odd interference in the audio. She assumed it was just being caused by the aircraft's engine, but after isolating and filtering the audio she discovered it was actually a digital signal.

And it wasn't just some random digital signal, either. It turns out the equipment used to transmit the live video feed to the ground also passes along the helicopter's GPS coordinates. And in a manner that anyone with access to the footage—like say the millions of people using YouTube every minute—and a little know-how can actually decode that data.

So does this pose any kind of security threat? Not necessarily. The route a police helicopter takes during a pursuit isn't exactly a secret. Anyone on the ground can monitor its course, and this 'hack' was done well after the chase was over. It might encourage law enforcement agencies to strip the audio before a video like this is released to the public. But this hack is more of a "how interesting" discovery than anything.

GPS IIFs Back on Launch Manifest

As reported by Inside GNSS: The fifth GPS Block IIF satellites is scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral on February 20 after concerns regarding a 2012 launch anomaly led the Air Force to scrub a planned launch last fall. A Delta IV M+ will carry the spacecraft into orbit.
 
Additional GPS IIF launches this year are tentatively set for May (Delta IV M+) and July (Atlas V rocket). The last GPS launch (GPS IIF-4) took place on May 13, 2013.
 
Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin has reported the successful powering on of the second GPS Block III satellite payload at its Denver-area processing facility. On December 19, engineers turned on power to the bus and network communications equipment payload of the GPS II Space Vehicle 2 (SV-02).
 
The production milestone demonstrates the satellite's mechanical integration, validates its interfaces, and leads the way for electrical and integrated hardware-software testing, according to Lockheed Martin.
 
The company is currently under contract for production of the first six GPS III satellites (SV 01-06), with the first four funded under the original contract and the fifth and sixth recent fully funded by an exercised Air Force option on December 13. Lockheed Martin had previously received advanced procurement funding for long-lead components for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth satellites (SV 05-08.
 
GPS III SV-01 is now in the integration and test flow leading to delivery "flight-ready" to the Air Force.

Use of GPS Technology Cuts Costs For Fleets

As reported by Fleet Owner: A broad survey of 508 fleet operations across the U.S. regarding their use of mobile resource management (MRM) systems finds that, of those using such technology, a significant majority are not only satisfied with the service they’re receiving but that they are recouping their investment via a wide array of savings such as improved fuel economy, reductions in vehicle idle time, etc.  

“Fleets using MRM systems are finding very high value in them and have a very high satisfaction rate with them; basically a 4.1 one on a 5 point scale,” Clem Driscoll, president of consulting and marketing research firm C.J. Driscoll & Associates, explained to Fleet Owner. “That very high satisfaction rate is but one indicator that the market for MRM technology in fleet operations will stay very strong.”

Driscoll said his firm’s telephone study – officially titled the 2013-14 Survey of Fleet Operator Interest in MRM Systems and Services – included TL and LTL carriers, private delivery fleets, construction-related fleets, and others, focusing on operator interest, use, and satisfaction with GPS [global positioning system] fleet management, driver behavior management, and GPS-equipped handset/portable solutions for managing mobile workers.

He added that out of the fleet operators participating in the survey, 42% operate Class 6-8 trucks and one-third of the total sample were comprised of TL/LTL carriers, private trucking fleets or local common carriers.

While only 36% of those fleets polled said they used a GPS-based system, the firm found that 79% of them were either satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their service, with 67% reporting that they recouped their investment in such technology.

Driscoll noted that such recoupment occurred by generating savings across a broad array of fleet operating metrics. For example, one private food delivery fleet operating 120 trucks achieved $167,600 per year in fuel and mileage savings plus $127,400 in driver time savings.

In other examples, a Connecticut-based regional water company operating 300 vehicles said it saved $64,000 in fuel costs a year by being able to control excess idling via is MRM system, while a county government fleet in Michigan noted MRM technology allowed it to gain $300 per day of “more production” per vehicle in its 80-unit operation.

“The interesting thing is that such numbers were being given right off the top of their heads as this was a real-time telephone survey; they didn’t have time to consult reports,” Driscoll stressed. “It costs money to install such technology but they know at the end of the day they are saving more money through it. That’s why this is such a strong indicator that demand for MRM systems will only keep growing.”

Driscoll’s survey uncovered other interesting aspects of MRM use patterns as well among the fleets participating in its survey:

• Some 58% of the fleets participating in its poll operate 50 or fewer vehicles, with the midpoint fleet size on its survey pool 35 vehicles
• In terms of route structure, 39% use dynamic routing based on real-time data, while 38% stick to pre-scheduled routes and 12% use fixed routes
• The basic communication device relied upon by the truck drivers in the fleets surveyed is the cell phone (67%), with 45% using smartphones and 18% using tablets or laptops
• The top benefit of GPS-based MRM systems cited by those using them is vehicle location (54%) with 37% citing driver performance and safety monitoring, 24% noting reduce idle time and fuel consumption, 18% route optimization, and 9% maintenance and repairs
• Some 68% do not integrate their MRM technology with back-office systems

The survey also noted that 31% of those fleets using a GPS-based fleet management system said they received an insurance discount for doing so – a finding that surprised Driscoll.

“I’m really surprised at the number of fleets that reported getting an insurance discount; we didn’t realize it was that common,” he said. “But we think the growing number of insurance providers that offer MRM packages of their own and that have used the data gained from them to monitor fleet safety, accident rates, etc., is beginning to influence their discount decisions.”