|
|
May 2000
|
Lockheed Martin Launches GPS Satellite
Intergraph announces GeoMedia 4.0 Product Suite
Magellan Launches 'GPS Clip-on'
Slective Availability goes away
Lockheed Martin Launches GPS Satellite
A Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Sunnyvale, Calif., has successfully launched on May 10 from Cape Canaveral Air Station. This was the third successful launch of the new-generation replenishment spacecraft, designated GPS IIR. The company will supply 17 more of these satellites to the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Centre, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, over the next five years. The Global Positioning System allows any user equipped with a GPS receiver to determine velocity and worldwide position — latitude, longitude and altitude — within a few metres. Both position data and velocity are given at a precise reference time. Although originally designed as a guidance and navigational tool for the military, GPS has proven beneficial in the fields of transportation, surveying, as well as search and rescue operations, and has created a tremendous demand in new commercial and civil markets. The GPS IIR satellites are compatible with the current system but offer improved performance. Increased navigation accuracy and longer autonomous satellite operation without ground control corrections will improve service for the Air Force customer and other users.
http://www.lmms.external.lmco.com
Intergraph announces GeoMedia 4.0 Product Suite
Intergraph Corporation has announced the new GeoMedia(r) 4.0 product suite, delivering improved performance and increased productivity to GIS professionals with expanded data access and integration tools, improved plotting workflow featuring the 4.0 product suite, delivering improved performance and increased productivity to GIS professionals with expanded data access and integration tools, improved plotting workflow featuring the new GeoMedia SmartPlot tools, and more than 75 customer-driven enhancements. The GeoMedia product suite includes GeoMedia, GeoMedia Professional, GeoMedia Web Map, and GeoMedia Web Enterprise. With this release, Intergraph continues its commitment to deliver open and highly productive solutions for GIS and IT professionals who deploy GIS and share data across the enterprise.
Magellan Launches ‘GPS Clip-on’
The Consumer Products business unit of Magellan Corporation has announced the launch of its OEM line of GPS receiver products for the Palm V(TM) connected organiser. Magellan’s clip-on is the first cordless GPS unit created specifically for Palm V(TM) connected organisers. In combination with Rand McNally’s StreetFinder(R) Deluxe 2000 software, the GPS unit offers today’s business traveller an integrated, all-in-one mapping and navigation solution that works effectively with Palm OS(TM) 3.0 or higher. Details can be obtained from
www.magellangps.com
Selective Availability goes away
UTC the U.S. government has shut off ‘selective availability’ on the Navstar GPS satellites. Selective Availability, or SA, purposely degrades the quality of the publicly available civilian GPS signal. The purpose for SA was to prevent adversaries of the United States from using GPS against the U.S. For example, it’s well within the range of a terrorist group or rogue country to develop missiles with off-the-shelf GPS receivers to enhance their guidance accuracy. The White House made the announcement on May 1. It had long been anticipated that SA would go away, at least during peacetime. Thousands of civilian GPS applications have been developed and many would be enhanced without SA. In addition, SA can be defeated through differential GPS, having another GPS receiver at a known location transmit its signal and comparing it with the signal from the GPS receiver in question.
|
|
|
|
|
