4 ms·

Launch of new Galileo navigation quartet

52 points by igravious 10y ago

eb0la 10y ago
I just discovered there are now 18 galileo satellites for alternative gps coverage. So we have now glonass, gps, and galileo to get geolocation from. Also we can get it from wifi to get better accuracy and... anything else? I am missing any other method?
- caf 10y ago
  LORAN-C and eLORAN
  - slededit 10y ago
    Those have been shutdown as of the end of 2015.
    - caf 10y ago
      Only in some parts of the world.
- lb1lf 10y ago
  The Chinese has also got a satnav system called Beidou. AFAIK it currently offers coverage in China and adjacent territories, but is scheduled to go global eventually once the constellation is complete.
- johnchristopher 10y ago
  Might as well add bluetooth to the list if you include WiFi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy#Proximity_sensing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy#Proximity...
- tesseract 10y ago
  GPS is currently being upgraded (Block III). There's also QZSS in Japan but I think that is intended more as a supplement to GPS and not meant to be used as a standalone positioning system (it's also regional only).
- mirashii 10y ago
  (Caveat) I'm more familiar with satellite-based navigation systems. Beidou/Compass is another out of China. India has their own navigation system called IRNSS or NAVIC as of 2016. There are an additional bunch of augmentation systems, known as SBAS, in operation around the world. QZSS from Japan, WAAS in the USA, EGNOS in Europe. Some places also have differential GPS satellites in orbit, like MTSAT in Japan.
igravious 10y ago
Alternative news sources with extra info. BBC: “Europe launches Galileo satellite quartet” http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38000538 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38000538 Spaceflight Insider: “Ariane 5 booster soars into orbit with four Galileo navigation satellites” http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/arianespace/ariane-5-booster-orbit-four-galileo-navigation-satellites/ http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/arianespace/... NASA Spaceflight.com: “Ariane 5 ES successfully launches Galileo quadruplets” https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/11/ariane-5-launch-galileo-quadruplets/ https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/11/ariane-5-launch-gali...
diggan 10y ago
As a sidenote that I discovered reading about the new Galileo system, the precision you can get from it is 1 cm (encrypted, presumably paid service) which is something I barely can believe. That's extremely accurate considering that the satellites themselves are 23,222 km above the earth. It seems the public will only get 1 meter precision, but comparing it to GPS which has a precision of 5 meters, I see this as extraordinary. More values: BeiDou Navigation Satellite System - 10 m (public) - 0.1 m (encrypted) Quasi-Zenith Satellite System - 0.01-1 meters Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System - 10 m (public) - 0.1 m (encrypted)
- garblegarble 10y ago
  >the precision you can get from it is 1 cm (encrypted, presumably paid service) which is something I barely can believe. You can actually get this level of precision with GPS too, using RTK - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Time_Kinematic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Time_Kinematic

52 points by igravious 10y ago

eb0la 10y ago

I just discovered there are now 18 galileo satellites for alternative gps coverage. So we have now glonass, gps, and galileo to get geolocation from. Also we can get it from wifi to get better accuracy and... anything else? I am missing any other method?

caf 10y ago
LORAN-C and eLORAN
- slededit 10y ago
  Those have been shutdown as of the end of 2015.
  - caf 10y ago
    Only in some parts of the world.
lb1lf 10y ago
The Chinese has also got a satnav system called Beidou. AFAIK it currently offers coverage in China and adjacent territories, but is scheduled to go global eventually once the constellation is complete.
johnchristopher 10y ago
Might as well add bluetooth to the list if you include WiFi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy#Proximity_sensing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy#Proximity...
tesseract 10y ago
GPS is currently being upgraded (Block III). There's also QZSS in Japan but I think that is intended more as a supplement to GPS and not meant to be used as a standalone positioning system (it's also regional only).
mirashii 10y ago
(Caveat) I'm more familiar with satellite-based navigation systems. Beidou/Compass is another out of China. India has their own navigation system called IRNSS or NAVIC as of 2016. There are an additional bunch of augmentation systems, known as SBAS, in operation around the world. QZSS from Japan, WAAS in the USA, EGNOS in Europe. Some places also have differential GPS satellites in orbit, like MTSAT in Japan.

igravious 10y ago

Alternative news sources with extra info. BBC: “Europe launches Galileo satellite quartet” http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38000538 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38000538 Spaceflight Insider: “Ariane 5 booster soars into orbit with four Galileo navigation satellites” http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/arianespace/ariane-5-booster-orbit-four-galileo-navigation-satellites/ http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/arianespace/... NASA Spaceflight.com: “Ariane 5 ES successfully launches Galileo quadruplets” https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/11/ariane-5-launch-galileo-quadruplets/ https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/11/ariane-5-launch-gali...

diggan 10y ago

As a sidenote that I discovered reading about the new Galileo system, the precision you can get from it is 1 cm (encrypted, presumably paid service) which is something I barely can believe. That's extremely accurate considering that the satellites themselves are 23,222 km above the earth. It seems the public will only get 1 meter precision, but comparing it to GPS which has a precision of 5 meters, I see this as extraordinary. More values: BeiDou Navigation Satellite System - 10 m (public) - 0.1 m (encrypted) Quasi-Zenith Satellite System - 0.01-1 meters Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System - 10 m (public) - 0.1 m (encrypted)

garblegarble 10y ago
>the precision you can get from it is 1 cm (encrypted, presumably paid service) which is something I barely can believe. You can actually get this level of precision with GPS too, using RTK - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Time_Kinematic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Time_Kinematic