Enhancing GPS Constellation and Signal Capability for Civilian Use
6 Aug 2013Civilians will soon have improved advancements to their GPS signals for GPS tracking and GPS navigation, according to General William L. Shelton of the US Air Force Space Command.
The information came from a letter to Gen. William L. Shelton, in which the GPS Innovation Alliance informed him they plan to improve upon the current GPS constellation. More specifically, the plan is to have these enhancements on Civilian Navigation (CNAV), along with additional GPS signals. The motive is to improve GPS signal capabilities for civilian use, along with a more accurate and advanced GPS system and infrastructure.
The GPS Innovation Alliance has stated that GPS technology is one of the most critical and valuable national assets, so it’s no surprise they plan to incorporate advancements for public interest.
This means more accuracy and improved reliability of the GPS applications, like GPS tracking and navigation, used by civilians. Additional frequencies and receiving are included in the updates of the GPS constellation.
“We believe that GPS users will experience benefits from activation of the full CNAV message on the GPS L2C and L5 signals,” the Alliance wrote. “A fully redundant signal capability greatly improves GPS robustness by providing frequency diversity and mitigates deliberate and accidental interference [jamming],” the Alliance said.
The US isn’t the only country with GPS technology, though the Alliance hopes to improve our country’s stance as a prominent position with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). It is a major milestone in the US leadership of GPS technology in comparison to the world’s GPS capabilities, signals and infrastructures.
The New GPS Signals
The government is currently working on three new signals for civilians; L1C, L2C and L5.
It’s all part of the GPS modernization program which is improving the signals of the satellite constellation for the US military.
The current L1 C/A will also be broadcasting on the satellite, therefore leaving four satellite systems in total for civilian use. The newest signals are only going to be use on a limited basis until they can broadcast between 18 and 24 satellites. The L2C signal is considered the 2nd signal, which was launched in 2005 and will be at 24 GPS satellites in 2018; it is mostly used for commercial needs. The third signal is the L5 with broadcasting from 3 GPS satellites and was launched in 2010. The fourth signal is the L1C which is going to launch in 2015 and available on 24 GPS satellites near 2026.
As the government launches new GPS satellites to replace older and outdated ones, the new signals will be phased in. “Users must upgrade their equipment to benefit from the new signals,”, according to GPS.gov.
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