Global Radionavigation – The Next 50 Years and Beyond

Abstract

This, and the following four papers, were first presented at the NAV99/ILA28 Conference on ‘Loran-C, Satellite and Integrated Systems for the 21st Century’ held at Church House, Westminster, London, 1st–3rd November 1999.

Just 25 years ago, the author presented a paper at the 30th Annual Meeting of the United States Institute of Navigation (ION) entitled ‘Radionavigation in North America, the Next 25 Years’. The paper received much attention and was given the ION's Burka Award for the best paper of the year. The author attempted to predict the worldwide implementation of Loran-C and Omega while acknowledging that satellite technology was on the horizon. ‘Global Radionavigation – The Next 50 Years and Beyond’ builds on the previous paper and is an attempt to define the future of global radionavigation based upon a mix of terrestrial and satellite systems. The time it takes for satellite systems and augmentations to mature and the reasons for this extended period provide the foundation of the paper. Also discussed are: the time to achieve a full constellation of space vehicles having signal specifications that meet the requirements for safety-of-life, the political complexities to achieve international harmonisation of service, and the use of a common worldwide protected frequency spectrum. The need for terrestrial complements is presented from the standpoint of supporting satellite systems and as a back-up in the event of loss of satellite services.