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| 1978 |
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On September 25, a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727
collides with a Cessna 172 in the skies over San Diego, California.
All 135 passengers on board the 727 and the two pilots in
the Cessna were killed. Seven people on the ground were
killed by the falling debris, and an additional nine
persons were injured.
Both aircraft received voice notification of the approximate
location of each other, however the National Transportation
Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the crash
was the failure of the 727 to maintain visual separation with
other air traffic.
One of those killed in the crash is a friend of Dr. Gerard ("Jerry") O'Neill.
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| 1980 |
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Work begins on a method of geolocation using two or more satellites.
In September, Dr. O'Neill files a patent for a "Satellite-Based
Vehicle Position Determining System."
Called Triad, it is based on the use of three satellites to
provide coverage to North America.
It is eventually granted U.S. Patent 4,359,733 in 1982.
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| 1983 |
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Geostar Corporation is formed in March, based in Princeton, New Jersey.
Application is made to the FCC in April for a license to construct
the Global Satellite System (GSS). The system called for
three geosynchronous satellites,
located at 70° W, 100° W, and 130° to cover the continental United
States and adjoining waters.
The application indicated GSS would be able to locate an individual
$200 transceiver as well as carry short (36-character) messages.
Dr. O'Neill is interviewed
for OMNI magazine.
The following What's News appeared in the September issue of
Radio-Electronics magazine:
Satellite services for individuals?
Geostar Corp of Princeton, NJ, proposes a satellite-communications system that
would permit persons to send messages via satellite, using devices no bigger than
pocket pagers. The system will locate the exact position of the sender, and
handle messages of up to 36 characters.
In its application to the FCC, Geostar states that a person confronted by a mugger
could press a single button on his communicator. That would send out a signal that
would go to three satellites in geostationary orbit over the Equator, and from them
back to a computer on Earth. The computer would determine instantly the exact
location of the sender by noting the difference in the time it takes for signals to
reach the computer from the different satellites. It would then notify the nearest
police car or station.
The system would also be valuable to hunters and others lost in the woods, and
would be of great value to trucking companies, who would make large savings if
they could determine the location of - and communicate with - their trucks at all
times.
The proposal has not found favor in all quarters. The cellular radio services - some
of whose alloted frequencies Geostar proposes to use - are particularly unhappy.
AT&T and Motorola Inc., both of whom are heavily involved in cellular radio,
have opposed plans of Geostar's type, stating that such systems would waste
frequencies in serving remote areas; such frequencies could be used better in urban areas.
An article appeared in the December issue of Data Communications
magazine with the following abstract:
A new satellite data network using low speed analog cellular
technology will allow users with hand-held transceivers to send and receive
text or data from any location without ground-based connections. Aimed at
tracking commercial airlines, this network will also be used in business for
tracking a local auto or truck fleet. Message transceivers will cost $450. The
monthly service charge will be $10 - $30 per month. The project has been
developed by Dr. Gerard O'Neill, former physics professor at Princeton who now
heads the Geostar Corp. Nearly $2 million have been spent in development; $200
million will be needed for the satellites.
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| 1984 |
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The FCC decides to allocate frequencies to an operational
satellite system for radio determination services. These decisions
are issued in rulemaking Dockets 84-689 and 84-690 and codified in
47 CFR Section 25.392.
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| 1985 |
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RCA Astro contracted with Geostar in April to develop an L-band inbound
(mobile unit to central hub)
transponder.
|
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| 1986 |
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GSTAR-2 is launched on March 11 carrying a Geostar payload,
but suffers catastrophic failure during on-orbit testing
in late May.
In August the FCC officially completed the rule-making process
for the RDSS frequencies. They grant three licenses -- one to
Geostar, one to MCCA Radiodetermination Corporation, and one
to McCaw Space Technologies, Inc.
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| 1987 |
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Field testing begins in January using two low-earth polar orbiting
NOAA ARGOS satellites. Position location is performed using Doppler;
no messaging is possible. (This was known internally as System 1.)
Eight transportation companies trial more than 100 user terminals,
including Mayflower Transit.
Geostar moves their corporate headquarters and processing center
from Princeton, New Jersey to K Street in downtown Washington, D.C.
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| 1988 |
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GE Americom Spacenet-3 is launched in March with an RDSS L-band receive-only
package.
Geostar begins commercial operation using
Spacenet-3,
with the capability of serving upwards of 40,000 users.
(This was known internally as System 2.)
Users transmit a direct-sequence spread spectrum burst at 1618.25 MHz.
The burst has an 8 MHz chip rate and a 15.6 kHz data rate.
User terminals transmit their position, derived from an on-board LORAN-C
receiver, to Geostar Central for delivery to the customer.
A return link at 2491.75 MHz is in the planning stages, but for now
the Geostar service is one-way only.
Geostar acquires an 11.5 percent stake in Locstar, a consortium made
up of European companies and government entities including British
Aerospace and Alcatel. The consortium plans to provide RDSS in Europe,
the Mideast and North Africa.
European patent EP 0174540 is granted to Geostar Corporation.
In November,
San Diego-based Qualcomm, Inc. begins offering their two-way OmniTRACS
mobile communications service via Ku-band satellite (two transponders on-board
GSTAR-1). Qualcomm
had purchased a smaller company called Omninet that had developed
the system. The FCC granted Qualcomm an STA (Special Temporary
Authority) in September for 2,000 terminals.
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| 1989 |
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A typical installation costs about $3,300 for transceiver, antenna
and keyboard. The Geostar link runs $45 a month for one transmission per
hour, 24 hours per day, and a nickel for each additional transmission.
In October Geostar begins offering two-way service by
transmitting an "outbound"
signal (from the central hub out to mobile terminals)
between 3700 and 4200 MHz (C-band).
(This was known internally as System 2C.)
Although the C-band frequencies
were originally allocated for Fixed Satellite Service (FSS), the
FCC allowed mobile operation in the band due to a lack of S-band satellite
capacity in the allocated RDSS band (2483.5 to 2500 MHz).
Equipment is built by Hughes Network Systems (L-band transmitter),
Kenwood Corporation (C-band receiver)
and Sony Corporation (L-band transmitter).
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| 1990 |
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In April Geostar demonstrates RDSS technology to remotely determine
the position of a mobile platform. The demonstration shows the ability
to determine position to an accuracy of better than 50 meters, using
just two geostationary satellites and a digital terrain map.
A secure, handheld satellite transmitter prototype built by a division
of Motorola (now part of General Dynamics) is demonstrated.
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| 1991 |
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Geostar declares bankruptcy in February.
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| 1992 |
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Motorola, deep in the planning stages for their Iridium project,
purchases Geostar's RDSS licenses at Geostar's bankruptcy auction
for $50,000.
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