The CEOs of the Members of the European Geostationnary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) Operators and Infrastructure Group (EOIG) and of the ESSP met recently in Paris to review the progress of EGNOS. The fi rst in-fl ight operational trials conducted recently in Spain, Switzerland and France have confi rmed the capability of EGNOSbased approaches similar to existing precision approaches (Cat I) supported today by conventional navigation systems, in line with the high standard safety procedures of civil aviation.

The European Commission Communication is proposing to secure the fi nancing of EGNOS for the next six years with public funding. The CEOs of the EOIG urge the States to achieve a fi nancial resolution in October 2007, in order to guarantee the success of the launching phase of EGNOS as a new air navigation system. michel.
calvet@aviation-civile.gouv.fr

Pseudo-satellites, ground-based substitutes used when signals from ‘real’ satellites are not available, can deliver accurate positioning information in places where conventional solutions fail. This was demonstrated recently in Helsinki harbour in Finland as part of a project supported by ESA. The solution is to set up a system with two or three pseudosatellites, called pseudolites, installed in elevated locations. The pseudolites achieve the same result as satellites in orbit, transmitting data sent by the EGNOS network and its data access system.

The results of the demonstration, which was performed by the Finnish Geodetic Institute and Space Systems Finland, showed that the ranging measurements from pseudolites provide navigation solutions compatible with those from GPS satellites, at a low cost. This unique way of providing positioning data could offer accuracies of a few centimetres. www.sciencedaily.com

Russian Railways is working on integrating satellite navigation signals from GLONASS/GPS in its automated rail transport systems. Some 7,000 locomotives are now fi tted with navigation receivers. With a total volume of up to 20,000 users, rail transport is the second-largest potential market for satellite navigation receivers in Russia after road users. www.satnews.com

Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) passengers will soon also have electronic displays informing them about the next bus stop and the time when a particular bus will reach a bus stop based on CDMA or GSM.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

GPS will be used to ensure food safety at next year's Beijing Olympics. Olympic organizing offi cials spelled out high-tech plans to make sure healthy food is delivered to the 10,500 athletes residing next year in the
Olympic Village. www.iht.com

Spanish traffi c authority (DGT) is studying a new law to fi ne drivers using their GPS navigation systems while their vehicle is in motion. Using a mobile phone when driving is forbidden in Spain and using a navigation device will be the same. An estimated 1.3 million GPS navigation devices will be sold in Spain in 2007. www.gpsbusinessnews.com

The worldwide market for location- based telecommunication services is expected to reach nearly $1.5 billion in 2007.According to The Insight Research Corporation, location-based telecommunication services are most popular in Asian countries, where they provide wireless subscribers with tailored information based upon their current physical location. www.insight-corp.com

Hemisphere GPS, Crescent R100 Series DGPS Receivers now support RTK is in full production release and available as an upgrade to all customers. Crescent R100 Series Receivers use both GPS and SBAS (WAAS/EGNOS/MSAS) to provide rapid initialization, improved reliability, and real-time centimeter level accuracy. www.hemispheregps.com

Applanix has introduced POS LV 610. It is a turn key solution designed for the specifi c needs of mobile mapping service providers and ngineering /survey professionals. The fi rst Applanix POS LV 610 unit has already been purchased by Toyota Central R&D Labs Inc. for use in vehicle dynamics reference data gathering to better study vehicle motion and road positioning. Applanix.com