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Ground-Based GPS Backup System to Cover White Sands

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The US Air Force has contracted Australian Locata Corporation to provide ground-based precision navigation technology as a backup to GPS signals.
  • The multimillion-dollar contract will deploy LocataNet services over a 2,500-square-mile area at White Sands Missile Range, where the system has already demonstrated high accuracy since 2011.
  • While current general aviation avionics are not directly compatible, future designs are anticipated to integrate receivers for both GPS and non-GPS signals, with smaller, credit-card to thumbnail-sized units in development.
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The United States Air Force has signed a contract with Australian Locata Corporation, a company that has developed a technology for ground-based precision navigation as a backup to GPS signals.

The scope of the multimillion-dollar contract is to provide LocataNet positioning services, which essentially works as a local positioning signal hotspot, for a 2,500-square-mile area at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. If successful, the concept could be rolled out elsewhere for civil use.

Pia Bergqvist

Pia Bergqvist joined FLYING in December 2010. A passionate aviator, Pia started flying in 1999 and quickly obtained her single- and multi-engine commercial, instrument and instructor ratings. After a decade of working in general aviation, Pia has accumulated almost 3,000 hours of flight time in nearly 40 different types of aircraft.

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