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Galileo sat-nav system experiences service outage
Europe's satellite-navigation system, Galileo, has suffered a major outage. The network has been offline since Friday due to what has been described as a "technical incident related to its ground infrastructure". The problem means all receivers, such as the latest smartphone models, will not be picking up any useable timing or positional information.
These devices will be relying instead on the data coming from the American Global Positioning System (GPS). Depending on the sat-nav chip they have installed, cell phones and other devices might also be making connections with the Russian (Glonass) and Chinese (Beidou) networks.
[...] The specialist sat-nav publication Inside GNSS said sources were telling it that the problem lay with a fault at a Precise Timing Facility (PTF) in Italy. A PTF generates and curates the reference time against which all clocks in the Galileo system are checked and calibrated.
The function on Galileo satellites that picks up distress beacon messages for search and rescue is said to be unaffected by the outage.
[...] Europe's alternative to GPS went "live" with initial services in December 2016 after 17 years of development. The European Commission promotes Galileo as more than just a back-up service; it is touted also as being more accurate and more robust.
Related: Galileo Satellites Experiencing Multiple Clock Failures
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(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday July 15 2019, @07:56PM (3 children)
I suppose the more points of failure, the more assembly line workers it takes to attach each one. The higher the BOM cost.
But maybe robots can replace assembly line workers and attach more points of failure in half the time. Jobs lost.
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday July 15 2019, @08:36PM (2 children)
The plebeians must be kept occupied. With what matters not, as long as they're busy and think it's necessary. Idle minds are the devil's workshops. The $ will flow and none will be the wiser.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 16 2019, @02:07PM (1 child)
Idle 3D printers are the devil's plaything.
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday July 16 2019, @04:31PM
Holy critical mass, Batman! We must keep the 3D printers away from the plebeians!