Browse Resources by Year

2005 – QZSS

Japan is developing the Quasi-Zenith system, a regional augmentation of the GPS signal, with a 2008 planned launch.

2005 – Galileo

Europe launched the first test satellite in the Galileo system in December 2005.

The U.S. NAVSTAR (Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging) GPS constellation consists of ## active and ## spare satellites in MEO. According to the DoD, the fundamental concept of GPS is to use simultaneous distance measurements from ## satellites to compute the position and time of any receiver. The GPS signal is available without cost to users around the world and has spawned many commercial applications.

2005 – Ground Networks

Ground station infrastructure provides command, control, tracking, and telemetry systems for launch vehicles, satellites, and other platforms. Worldwide tracking systems operated by government agencies support launch command and control. Satellite ground stations are operated either by commercial or government entities; their components include the large satellite receivers used to transmit and receive signals to and from satellites on orbit for the purpose of communication, navigation, or data transfer.

2005 – Spaceports Overview

Major United States and international launch sites, according to Teal Group and Astronautix are listed in Exhibit 2m. These launch sites are both commercial and government operated.

2005 – Satellite Orbits

As geostationary (GSO) satellites remain in an essentially fixed position relative to the ground at all times, they can communicate with fixed ground stations continually. Medium Earth orbit (MEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites appear to “fly by” overhead and have a shorter communication window for a given station, from ten minutes for a LEO satellite to two hours or more for a MEO satellite. Satellites in highly elliptical orbits may be in communication with a fixed ground station for up to eight hours.

2005 – Satellite Overview

Satellites in use have four basic applications: communications, remote sensing, navigation, positioning and timing, and scientific experimentation (generally using a suite of sensors with variations of some or all of the other types). The sidebar describes the various satellite orbits.

2005 – Commercial Human Spaceflight

In 2005, six ISS resupply launches were made from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. NASA paid Roscosmos $## million per launch. NASA’s planned funding for COTS is shown in Exhibit 4q. In 2005, NASA spent $## billion on space operations, (which includes the shuttle and ISS) and spent $## billion on exploration systems. Note that these funds are reflected in the overall NASA budget shown for 2006.

2005 – Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Services

ABI Research estimates global market revenues for satellite-based positioning technologies for all applications at $## billion for 2005, see Exhibit 4o, The Industrial Technology Research Institute estimated 2003 GPS production value at $## billion and growing. Trends in GPS growth were reported in Business Week, along with a discussion of the entrance of “mainstream” electronics firms into the GPS marketplace:

2005 – Earth Observation

SIA reported that revenue for global commercial satellite remote sensing increased approximately ## percent from 2004 to 2005, driven by evolving business opportunities, new and continuing military and intelligence imagery contracts, and expanding civil and commercial imagery markets, including online mapping services. The SIA includes remote sensing as part of its FSS revenue estimate.