The JLOC system will automatically take in reports of higher than normal signal levels in the GPS band and lower than normal signal/noise ratio, indicating the presence of a GPS threat. JLOC uses such reports to determine in aggregate the regions where interference is occurring. The next level is to geolocate the source of the interference extremely precisely.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that Block II GPS satellites were big news. But these days Block II is all but passé, as the U.S. Air Force and its contractors gear up for the next generation of GPS, Block III, both on the ground and in orbit.

Perspectives — April 2008 GPS World's intrepid editor in chief filed this month's newsletter from Toulouse, France, home of CNES, the French Space Agency, and site of this week's European Navigation Conference. Apr 24, 2008 By: Alan Cameron

GPS World's intrepid editor in chief filed this month's newsletter from Toulouse, France, home of CNES, the French Space Agency, and site of this week's European Navigation Conference.

Leadership Talks — Anomaly Response GPS World Interview: Don Jewell with Col. Mark Crews and Staff Apr 1, 2008 By: Don Jewell

Don Jewell, contributing editor for GPS World's military and government section, interviewed Col. Mark Crews (pictured above), chief engineer at the GPS Wing, U.S. Space Missile Command, regarding GPS anomalies that occurred in October 2007 that resulted in a great deal of concern in the international user and monitoring community.

Perspectives — March 2008 Europe's Galileo project certainly seems to be back on track, and despite recent optimism in Russia over GLONASS, it may indeed become the second fully functional GNSS, following GPS. But a few uncertainties for Galileo remain for Europe to address, among them China's Compass. Mar 27, 2008 By: Alan Cameron

Europe's Galileo project certainly seems to be back on track, and despite recent optimism in Russia over GLONASS, it may indeed become the second fully functional GNSS, following GPS. But a few uncertainties for Galileo remain for Europe to address, among them China's Compass.

The European Space Agency (ESA) stands ready to raise the curtain on Galileo's second act, with the GIOVE-B experimental and validation satellite tentatively set for an April 28 launch from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. ESA plans to simultaneously stage special events at several of its European centers to mark the event.

In the closing moments of the year, the U.S. House and Senate Armed Services committees in conference have submitted a proposed Department of Defense budget for fiscal year 2008: the FY08 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Congress wants to get it approved before recess. The full House and Senate will vote on the Act this week — and may have done so by the time you read this newsletter.

Earlier this month, two leading GPS experts recommended key and fundamental changes in the GPS III program to the U.S. government´s National Space-Based PNT Advisory Board. Specifically, they urged the Department of Defense and the Air Force to abandon some cherished ultra-high-tech bells and whistles, which they likened to the television science fiction Battlestar Galactica, and instead focus on faster, more, cheaper: a commitment to early delivery of the modernized system, which has bogged down repeatedly and shows no early signs of changing its behavior; a constellation of 30+ satellites rather than 24+; and fewer extra features such as spot beams and wideband cross-links.

We´re here on the floor — and in the balconies, mezzanines, conference rooms, washrooms, lunch lines, and speaker huddles — of the Fort Worth Convention Center, soaking up all the technical and political knowledge exchanged between minds here: the Institute of Navigation Satellite Division´s conference, ION GNSS 2007.