GPS Sabotage
Friday October 3, 2008
An article from MSNBC discusses the possibility that GPS units could be interfered with to show incorrect time or location. There are two methods by which this can be done. The serious effects of such sabotage could result in plane crashes and exploding power stations.
Wall Street Journal
GPS Satellite Glitches Fuel Concern on Next Generation
By ANDY PASZTOR
Technical problems are degrading the accuracy of signals from the last GPS satellite launched by the Pentagon, sparking concerns among U.S. military and aerospace industry officials that the next generation of the widely used satellites could face similar troubles.
The Air Force's Southern California space acquisition center on Tuesday announced that a Global Positioning System satellite, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp. and launched in March, is experiencing performance problems in orbit. It hasn't become part of the "operational constellation" of more than two dozen other GPS satellites, and is slated to undergo a battery of tests expected to stretch through October to try to resolve the problems, according to an Air Force news release.
The GPS system, which serves both military and civilian users, provides precise time and location coordinates for everything from military missile launches and "smart" bombs to automated bank-teller machines to aircraft, ships and everyday vehicles. The Lockheed satellite is the first to include a new civilian frequency -- dubbed L5 -- designed for, among other things, use by future nationwide air-traffic control systems. But that signal, part of test package, apparently is interfering with other signals from the satellite and reducing their accuracy, according to industry and Air Force officials. The degraded signals are accurate only to about 20 feet, versus about two feet for typical GPS signals, industry officials said.
While the Air Force said it has "high confidence there is no related concern" with other Lockheed satellites in orbit or waiting for launch, Air Force brass have begun examining whether Boeing versions of GPS satellites require additional tests and analysis to eliminate concerns, according to industry officials familiar with the details. A spokeswoman for Boeing declined to comment. A Lockheed Martin spokesman said the company is working with the Air Force "to fully evaluate the issue and to ensure the satellite meets GPS requirements."
In its release, the Air Force said the routine in-orbit checkout of the suspect Lockheed satellite revealed that some signals "were inconsistent" with comparable GPS satellites. The Air Force also said upcoming tests will include simulations and "testing of real-life GPS receiver equipment to the greatest extent possible" to prevent "inadvertent impacts to GPS users."
The first of Boeing's GPS IIF satellites, incorporating the new civilian signal, is slated to launch late this year or early 2010, delayed from the summer.
In May 2008, Lockheed bested Boeing to win a contract worth at least $1.8 billion to build the most-advanced navigation satellites yet, dubbed GPS III, scheduled to go into operation around the middle of the next decade.
Concerns over signal quality come barely weeks after a Congressionally-ordered study raised a red flag about potential erosion of GPS accuracy in the next few years due to launch delays and other challenges. If certain launches get delayed up to two years, the General Accountability Office report predicted, the Pentagon could have trouble maintaining the desired fleet of 24 fully-functional GPS satellites in operation.
The Pentagon responded by minimizing the potential risk, arguing that significant spare capacity remains on orbit and on the ground to handle unexpected problems. Gen. Robert Kehler, head of Air Force Space Command, said in an interview earlier this month that the GAO conclusions were overly pessimistic partly because they failed to take into account strategies the Air Force could use to extend the life of existing satellites. For example, Gen Kehler said, managing power output could give solar arrays longer life.
Despite some continuing quality-control issues with Boeing's IIF versions, Gen. Kehler said, "we're not going to have an issue" maintaining the current robust constellation.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
Third Jihad Sabatoge?
Wiki: Unlike acts of terrorism, acts of sabotage do not always have a primary objective of inflicting casualties. Saboteurs are usually classified as enemies, and like spies may be liable to prosecution and criminal penalties instead of detention as a prisoner of war. It is common for a government in power during war or supporters of the war policy to use the term loosely against opponents of the war. A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group, such as a nation, from within, to the aid of an external enemy.
Current Examples:
North [1] Koreans in Japan, particularly those affiliated to Chongryun (which is affiliated to the government of North Korea) may sometimes be seen this way by some Japanese, and have been the victims of verbal and physical attacks, more frequently since the government of Kim Jong Il acknowledged it had abducted Japanese nationals and tested ballistic missiles.
[2] Some Israelis, including politicians, rabbis, journalists and historians have referred to the 20% of Israel's population who are Arab as being a "fifth column" inside the State of Israel as Arab Israelis usually identify more with the Palestinian cause than the Israeli cause.
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