OBSERVATIONS FROM SCOTLAND

Some of you may have read my rantings on the subject of what I like to call 'me too' satellites, predominantly University projects that repeat old experiments, use the amateur radio allocations and deliver nothing of consequence for anyone with an interest in amateur radio.

Well, the 'big boys' seem to be playing the same game, particularly with regard to Global Positioning System birds. The Yanks have GPS, The Russians have their own birds, (GLONASS and some experimental birds), while the Eurozone are pushing their fledgling 'Galileo' 'constellation' concept. The the Chinese have also jumped on the bandwagon with a recent launch of a positioning satellite intended for Chinese users. The Russians seem to be in bed with the Indians while at the same time, the Indians seem to be hedging their bets and supporting both Glonass AND Galileo, presumably to see which system becomes the most predominant. This is not to say that the technically 'best' solution will prevail, the reverse can often be the case, (as we've all seen before with competing video tape standards). The 'best' one is usually the one that the companies with a vested interest 'push' most, perhaps why a lot of the world used the crappy VHS tape format.

Quite a bit of the reasoning for this multiplicity of satellites must surely be political rather than practical. Most people in the UK either know of, have seen or use GPS technology. It's available at low cost at almost any decent car spares dealer not to mention shops dealing in outdoor activities. Pilots, hill-walkers, delivery drivers, taxi owners and even the odd humble cyclist use this technology. I have used it myself on a few occasions. There's only one snag as far as I can see. All of the systems I've seen to date are GPS based. You could be forgiven for thinking that there is no alternative.... and from a users point of view, this is essentially true.

The Americans would never use a Russian system because the Russians are in control. The Russians would never use an American system, (especially for missile navigation) because the Yanks are in control. Effectively, the GPS world is currently US dominated. Despite the investment to date by the Russians in particular, the real world runs on GPS. The European system offers potentially greater accuracy than GPS but since GPS is considered accurate enough for missile guidance (it's primary mission, since it's primarily a military system), it's difficult to see what benefits a better system will bring to ordinary users. I'm sure many of you will have seen GPS in action, perhaps on a TomTom GPS or a taxi system. Punch in the destination and the machine can give you the shortest route and direct you with voice instructions to the front door.... 'you have arrived!' How accurate does it all NEED to be? Were it a bit better still than the current system, maybe blind people could use it (I'm being serious here).

Do we really NEED a better system than the American GPS one, or is it just sour grapes? After all, if it suited the Americans, they could flip the big red switch on their GPS system effectively leaving most of the world (including themselves) in the navigational dark. GPS has become a VERY important technology around the globe but let's not forget that Uncle Sam has the power and the right to switch it off, should the situation be beneficial to the US. It is primarily a military system that civilians are allowed to use. Viewed in that light, there is 'some' justification for other countries developing their own systems so maybe there IS some justification for 'me too' GPS birds after all. I'm not sure the same can be said of the University birds operating on the amateur radio bands.

Navigation satellites have for a considerable period of time also carried the cospas-sarsat radio based rescue system so in effect, they are dual-purpose birds providing both navigation and search and rescue payloads. This is a very commendable use of these satellite systems. So long as the new systems carry on the tradition of COSPAS/SARSAT, I think they will justify their existence. Maybe is not so bad after all to have a quite a few 'me too' navigation/SAR birds in orbit. What a pity I can't say the same about Cubesats and most University birds.

COSPAS/SARSAT Homepage

As of December 2005 the Cospas-Sarsat System had provided assistance in rescuing more than 20,531 persons in over 5,752 incidents. The COSPAS/SARSAT has more than proven it's worth over it's lifetime to date. In 2004 alone, the system helped rescure 1478 people in 466 separate SAR events (1) . Surely that fact alone is a strong justification for placing the system aboard NAVSATS, no matter who owns them.

Other satellite navigation systems in use or various states of development include:

Beidou — China's regional system that China has proposed to expand into a global system.

GLONASS — Russia's global system which is being restored to full availability in partnership with India.

Other Russian navigation satellite systems included Tsikada (Cicada) and Tsyklon (Cyclone)