Since it became operational in 2005, RAIB has investigated numerous incidents in which signaller decision-making has been pivotal, and where the safety of the railway system was heavily dependent on those decisions (that is, scenarios in which there were no, or limited, engineered safeguards).

Under its remit, RAIB also collected industry data on several similar incidents over a five-year period which again highlighted the vulnerable nature of such decision-making. In the light of these incidents, the RAIB undertook a class investigation into what affects those decisions, recognising that they may be influenced by a variety of systemic factors.

Submit your abstract today for the Institute of Navigation’s (ION) COMBINED International Technical Meeting (ITM) and the Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Systems and Applications Meeting. The co-located conferences will take place January 25-28, 2021 at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay in San Diego, California. Abstracts are due October 7, 2020.

ITM & PTTI 2021 are co-located – ONE registration fee, TWO technical events and a commercial exhibit.

European engineers, together with Canada, are working on the technologies needed to find and retrieve samples from Mars, as part of ESA’s plans to send material from the Red Planet to Earth.

The Sample Fetch Rover will need to navigate autonomously, detect tubes of samples collected and packed by an earlier NASA rover, pick them up and return them to Earth.

The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor or ASIM, mounted outside the European laboratory of the International Space Station, enters its second year of science operations.

Specifically, ASIM is on the hunt for elusive electrical discharges in the upper atmosphere, or lightning that extends upwards into space. These discharges have alluring names like red sprites, blue jets and elves and have been reported by pilots over the years.

There is always a sunrise and sunset happening somewhere on our planet. Soon a new Belgium-led CubeSat – flying aboard Europe’s Vega launcher this Sunday – will be keeping watch. The miniature PICASSO mission will use the filtering of sunlight by Earth’s atmosphere to check the health of our protective ozone layer.

CubeSats are miniature satellites built up from standardised 10-cm boxes. The PICo-satellite for Atmospheric and Space Science Observations, or PICASSO, developed with ESA by the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BISA), is a ‘3-unit’ CubeSat with two scientific payloads. It hosts a cut-down spectrometer for monitoring the atmosphere, as well as sampling probes (called ‘SLP’) to measure space plasma around the nanosatellite.

The first artificial intelligence to be carried onboard a European Earth observation mission will be launched this week from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The pioneering artificial intelligence technology named Φ-sat-1, pronounced PhiSat-1, will be the first experiment to improve the efficiency of sending vast quantities of data back to Earth.

The Institute of Navigation (ION) is announcing that the ION GNSS+ 2020 will now have a virtual option for those unable to attend due to travel restrictions. With the goal of increasing global accessibility to everyone who wants to participate, the ION GNSS+ 2020 virtual option will mirror the technical program being presented live, September 21-25 in St. Louis, Missouri, giving attendees access to the latest GNSS developments and premium content through an innovative and timely online experience. In addition, virtual meeting attendance will be free for all first-time ION GNSS+ attendees.

It’s well known that GPS and other satellite navigation systems are vulnerable to disruption. The MarRINav project provides a phased approach towards achieving resilient positioning, navigation and timing in the maritime domains.

The webinar scheduled for 25 June will present:

– how maritime positioning requirements were systematically developed

– assessment of current and future positioning systems to deliver the required performance and integrity

– rigorous gap analysis, showing where performance falls short and options to solve these issues

-road-map of steps needed, and by whom, towards maritime resilient positioning.

It was reported by the European Space Agency (ESA) on 12 June that Europe’s next Vega launch will premiere a new dispenser called the Small Spacecraft Mission Service, or SSMS. The vehicle will transport more than 50 satellites at once into orbit on the first rideshare mission dedicated to light satellites. Liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana is set for week commencing 14 June.

From Cologne on 10 June the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced the certification of an electric aeroplane, the Pipistrel Velis Electro, the first type certification worldwide of a fully electric aircraft and an important milestone in the quest for environmentally sustainable aviation.

The Velis Electro is a two-seater aircraft intended primarily for pilot training. Slovenia-based Pipistrel is a leading small aircraft designer and manufacturer, specialised in energy-efficient and affordable high-performance aircraft.

The world’s reliance on maritime transport makes it more important than ever to keep ships moving, ports open and cross-border trade flowing, and to support ship crew changeovers, the United Nations maritime and trade entities said in a joint statement issued on 8 June 2020 and available here.

The IMO and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which tracks world trade, reiterated calls for Governments to promote crew well-being by allowing crew changes and ensuring seafarers and other maritime personnel have access to documentation and travel options so that they can return home safely.

For further information and guidance on coronavirus readers are invited to see here.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law legislation that will improve the safety of navigation in South Africa’s territorial waters. The Presidency made the announcement in a statement on 5 June.

The Hydrographic Act provides for the establishment of the Hydrographic Office as a unit within the South African Navy, with the responsibility for the safety of navigation in South Africa’s exclusive economic zone and the internal waters of the Republic.

The office will ensure that hydrographic surveying is carried out in accordance with international specifications and will issue sailing directions, notices to mariners and nautical publications in addition to the provision of other services.

ESA and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs have selected a team from Mahidol University, Thailand to carry out research using ESA’s hypergravity-generating Large Diameter Centrifuge. The team will see how watermeal – the smallest flowering plant on Earth, even smaller than the more familiar duckweed – responds to changing gravity levels to assess its usefulness for space-based life support systems.

The ever-increasing pace of digital connectivity on board ship has led to the rapid development of onboard communications. Digitalisation is challenging traditional shipping practices, and the shipping industry demands instant access to information. In addition to ensuring safe implementation of these new ways of working the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has now made a wide range of its essential maritime publications available as ebooks.

Here is the latest report from the IAIN’s representative at RNTF, the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation.

Here is the latest report from the IAIN’s representative at ICAO.

Here is the latest report from the IAIN’s representative at IMO.

Here is the latest report from the IAIN’s representative at the ICG.

Here is the latest report from the IAIN’s representative at the CIRM.

Responding to the need for a specialized PNT community job board, the Institute of Navigation has launched a new ION Online Job Board. This was reported by ION from its HQ in Manassas, Virginia on 1 June.

Lisa Beaty, ION Executive Director, commented: ‘To meet the burgeoning demand for a targeted talent pool specific to the PNT community, the new ION Online Job Board will help connect qualified job seekers with exciting and diverse employment opportunities for this niche audience, and in turn will help our corporate members continue to build talented teams to better ensure the success of their business.’

It was announced from Amsterdam on 27 May that the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) will provide Metron Aviation’s commercial demand prediction tool – Horizon – to global air navigation service providers (ANSPs) on a complimentary basis until the end of October 2020. It is understood that the enhanced information regarding traffic demand the tool provides will be particularly helpful to ensure efficient management of traffic flows as travel restrictions are lifted and air traffic levels restored.

Horizon is a web-based application that provides demand predictions for arriving, departing and en route aircraft based on scheduled, planned and actual data. The system combines flight plan and surveillance feeds to offer strategic, pre-tactical and tactical demand predictions for traffic flying through airspace. It will enhance ANSPs’ situational awareness and increase the predictability of airport and airspace usage.

As the world continues to be in quarantine, provision of aids to navigation are essential services vital for the safety of marine navigation and the continuous flow of trade be it food, fuel and medical supplies, along with the many other commodities and raw materials upon which we all depend daily.

One of IALA’s national members, the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) of India has produced a video reassuring the general public of their commitment to keeping their service fully operational and to ensure safety of marine navigation along India’s coastline despite the confinement.

In response to news in week ending 23 May of job cuts at Rolls-Royce, Andrew Bradley, Chair of the Aerospace Board at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, commented: ‘This week Rolls-Royce has announced plans to reduce its workforce by 9000, the vast majority of which will be in its Civil Aerospace division. This is a sad reflection of the hit to the Civil Aviation market by Covid-19. Boeing has estimated that for 2020 worldwide Revenue Passenger Kilometres will reduce by 50% from 2019 levels.’

On 18 May the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) reported that the 2019 Alexander Dalrymple Award has been presented to Vice-Admiral Vinay Badhwar, National Hydrographer to the Government of India, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Indian hydrography and across the wider Indian Ocean region.

As National Hydrographer, Vice-Admiral Badhwar has been a pivotal member of the International Hydrographic Organization’s Capacity Building Sub-Committee since its creation. He also leads the Indian Naval Hydrographic Office’s own regional Capacity Building programmes, coordinating efforts to help Indian Ocean coastal states to develop their hydrographic and cartographic capabilities – an important step to unlocking each of these states’ blue economies.

IFSMA calls upon Governments to adopt the ‘Framework of protocols for ensuring safe ship crew changes and travel during the COVID-19 pandemic’ without delay to allow ship owners and management companies to change over their dangerously tired crews.

Governments must act now in order to avoid personal injury to, and mental breakdown of, seafarers and avoid the significant risk of accidents and consequential danger to life and the environment.

IFSMA is receiving an increasing number of reports from its ship masters’ associations around the world concerned for the welfare and safety of crews and the increased risk with which they are operating in an already high risk environment. Seafarers are feeling let down and abandoned by their Governments.