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Galileo Next Generation GPS
 Lost
and Found
Call me a curmudgeon, but we used to be able to depend on certain
things. If you were unruly in school, the teacher whacked your
behind with a paddle. If your bike broke down on the side of the
road, someone would stop and help out. And if the US government
launched a high-tech global positioning system, you could depend on
it to chart an accurate dual-sport adventure ride.
Sitting motionless in the driveway, I watch my location dance a
tiny minuet around the miniature basemap on my Garmin III+ receiver
mounted on my handlebars. Elevation fluctuates from 507 feet to 583
feet, and an accumulation of cookie crumb pixels indicated that I'm
moving, but I'm not. It's frustratingly clear that GPS isn't being
all that it can be. Of the 24 satellites in orbit, 16 are past their
design life, and since 9/11 the military selectively denies GPS
during military action. You never know when a smart-bomb attack in
Afghanistan is preventing you from locking onto a signal, even with
multiple satellites hovering above the horizon.
But that's about to change. With the recent launch of a sputnik
from the Baikonur cosmodrome, the European Space Agency kicked off
the new space race by introducing a consumer oriented and civilian
managed satellite navigation system named Galileo. Operational by
2010, the constellation will consist of 30 cutting-edge dual band
satellites, broadcasting an XM radio version of GPS. Delivering
multiple levels of guaranteed service, the basic free offering
promises accuracy down to 3 meters, five times better than the
current system. Upgrade to the premium fee-based service and you can
pinpoint your location within one meter (3 feet), and even down to
five inches under ideal conditions.
Of course, as with any new technology, you'll need to upgrade
your equipment because our current receivers are not compatible with
the Galileo signal. Neither Garmin nor Magellan were willing to
comment on their future product plans, but surely they will be
introducing dual mode units in the next few years. And the feds
won't be left behind in the space race for long. The US Commerce
Department just announced that in September 2006 the Air Force will
begin launching next generation GPS satellites, featuring a
high-powered signal called L2C designed for commercial and personal
use.
I managed to navigate my way out of the driveway, the long way
round, but I'm still looking forward to discovering Galileo and its
gee-whiz features. A next generation receiver probably means a new
mounting system, a new hard-wired power connector and upgraded
mapping software. That's a lot to ask of Santa. But accessorizing
the motorcycle is an American dream. If we didn't have obsolescence
through competition and new technology, we wouldn't have the world's
largest economy—and that's something you depend on.
Mitch Comstock/Winter 06 |
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