LAAS Update

by Dieter Guenter GPS TAC/FAA ATO-W

The Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) remains a research &

development (R&D) project. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues to make progress by resolving the integrity risks

that have plagued the program for many years. By September 2006, the

Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) Office expects to complete the integrity

analysis and implement an approved set of integrity monitoring algorithms in a prototype

LAAS at Memphis, TN. The prototype at Memphis will not meet all of the requirements

for a Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) compliant facility, but the majority

of technical risk will have been resolved. The FAA does not intend to resume development of a federal LAAS facility, but other service providers have shown interest in obtaining their own approvals for a SARPs compliant Category I LAAS, based on the Memphis

prototype. The FAA is discussing potential cooperative arrangements with other service

providers who are interested in investing their own funds and leveraging FAA’s investment

in LAAS to complete the development activities necessary to provide a SARPs compliant

system. If a cooperative agreement is reached, FAA might be able to upgrade the Memphis

prototype and complete a SARPs compliant approval as well.

In parallel to those R&D activities, the GBAS team is working on a LAAS vulnerability

assessment, a regulatory approval process for the implementation of International Civil

Aviation Organization SARPS compliant LAAS Category I into the National Airspace

System (NAS), and an analysis of LAAS as a cost effective alternative for precision approach service. These evaluations and analysis efforts combined with the Honeywell prototype activities will lead to a comprehensive update on how LAAS will meet required

performance standards, how it can be implemented into the NAS, and how cost effective

LAAS can be.

New WAAS International Reference

Stations Installed in Mexico and Canada

by Wally Peterson, GPS TAC/FAA ATO-W

The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) program passed another milestone recently. During the week of 8 August, another

international WAAS wide area reference station (WRS) was installed

In this issue:

LAAS Update...............................1

New WAAS International

Reference Stations Installed in

Mexico and Canada.....................1

Satellites Carrying WAAS Payloads

Successfully Launched ................2

LPV Defined................................4

LPV Approach Procedure

Development Accelerating.............4

Performance-Based

Navigation....................................4

The SATNAV News SATNAV News is SATNAV News produced by the Navigation

Services (ATO-W) branch of the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA). This newsletter provides

information on the Wide Area Augmentation System

(WAAS) and the Local Area Augmentation System

(LAAS), and initiatives associated with the

implementation of satellite navigation into the

National Airspace System (NAS).
2

and tested. This latest WRS was installed in Mexico on the

property of the Mexico City International Airport. The WRS

is housed in facilities maintained by SENEAM (Servicios a la

Navegacion en el Espacio Aereo Mexicano). This is the second international WRS installed and completes one of the

Administrator’s goals for fiscal year (FY) 2005. The first international WRS was installed in Gander, Canada in June

2005. During the week of 26 September, another international WRS was installed in Goose Bay, Canada. Future installations are planned to be complete by the end of October

at the airports in Puerto Vallarta and Merida in Mexico.

Satellites Carrying WAAS

Payloads Successfully

Launched

by Mary Ann Davis, GPS TAC/FAA ATO-W

On Thursday, September 8th, members of the FAA’s WAAS

team and industry partners gathered in McLean, Virginia

to watch a live broadcast of the Telesat Anik F1R

geostationary satellite (GEO) launch, carrying the first of

two WAAS L1/L5 navigation payloads into orbit. The

launch took place from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the

Republic of Kazakhstan on Friday, September 9th, at 3:53

AM local time. A clip of the actual launch can be viewed at

http://www.ilslaunch.com/stories/Current_Campaigns/#.

On Thursday, October 13th, a second satellite carrying

another WAAS payload was deployed by PanAmSat. The

PanAmSat Galaxy 15 satellite was launched from Kourou,

French Guiana. These launches were the culmination of

several years of work by members of the FAA and their

industry partners, and marked a significant milestone toward

the achievement of future enhancements for WAAS services.

The FAA WAAS team has been working since 1998 to

identify a solution for improved WAAS GEO coverage and

in 2002 received authorization from Congress to begin the

acquisition of additional satellites. At that time, the team

began working toward the goal of procuring a third GEO

to supplement the two existing WAAS INMARSAT GEOs.

After initial industry inquiry regarding the procurement of

this third GEO, the FAA learned of the long lead times

needed to obtain these services. At that point, the FAA

changed their initial approach of procuring only a third

GEO. Instead, the FAA switched to a strategy that would

focus on a total GEO solution, including the replacement

of the existing INMARSAT GEOs. These INMARSAT

GEOs were not optimally positioned to best serve WAAS

as it was, creating the need for the third GEO in the first

Building Housing WRS in Mexico City, Mexico

Building Housing WRS in Goose Bay, Canada
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place. Additionally, the leases for the INMARSATs were

set to expire in a few years providing the opportunity to

switch to a more advantageous GEO solution.

As the WAAS team of technical experts worked closely with

industry to identify a more optimal WAAS GEO solution,

they found that the most technically and economically

advantageous solutions came with longer lease commitments

than those supported by existing FAA procurement policy.

The FAA policy limited commitment to financial obligation

to no longer than five years. The optimal leasing period

was ten years. The team did not let this situation deter

them. Skilled contracts personnel on the WAAS team

joined the effort and worked closely with FAA procurement

officials to employ the FAA’s Pilot Program authority. This

authority enabled the procurement of satellite leases that

extended to the desired ten year period. As a result, the

vendor was able to offer reduced operations and

maintenance costs. This approach saved the FAA over $50

million dollars on the fixed price of the lease and reduced

termination liability by $17M. A Lockheed Martin-led team

supported the FAA in the procurement of these new GEO

services under the Geostationary Communication and

Control Segment (GCCS) contract that had been awarded

in March 2003. The combination of technical skill,

contracts expertise, and close coordination with industry

helped to execute a favorable technical solution that also

resulted in significant cost savings to the FAA.

The excitement felt on the launch days was not just about

what had been accomplished, but also about the future.

The coverage and services provided by these new GEOs will

provide a critical cornerstone for WAAS enhancements.

The Telesat and PanAmSat GEOs will begin broadcasting

an operational WAAS signal in 2006, just in time to ensure

continuity of the WAAS broadcast when the leases for the

WAAS INMARSAT GEOs expire. Additionally, the

position of these new GEOs will provide more optimal

coverage than did the original pair of WAAS INMARSAT

GEOs. The existing INMARSAT satellites overlap only over

a small portion of the U.S. A failure in the easternmost

INMARSAT satellite would result in loss of service to the

majority of the U.S. A failure in the westernmost

INMARSAT satellite would render Alaska without service

until it was restored. The future coverage to be provided by

the Telesat and PanAmSat is much more robust. Each of

the new GEOs footprints will cover the entire U.S. If an

outage should occur in one satellite, the other will be able

to provide sustained coverage for the entire U.S. service

area. Additionally, Alaska will have much more complete

WAAS coverage than provided by the position of the

INMARSAT GEOs. The Telesat and PanAmSat GEO

services provided to the FAA under the new lease agreement

will provide service through 2016.

New WAAS GEO Coverage to be

Provided by Telesat and PanAmSat

Current WAAS GEO Coverage

Provided by INMARSAT
4

LPV Defined

by Larry Oliver, GPS TAC/FAA ATO-W

Up until this time, the term “LPV” had been an undefined

acronym. It represented a WAAS instrument approach with

vertical guidance. The letters were an adaptation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) acronym “APV”

meaning Approach with Vertical Guidance. Since the FAA

variant did not readily fit into the ICAO classification, the

FAA adopted LPV as a means of avoiding confusion in the

international arena. The August 4th, 2005 change to the Aeronautical Information Manual has now cleared up what the

letters “LPV” represent. LPV is Localizer Performance with

Vertical Guidance. This is an accurate description of the

WAAS LPV approach, since the horizontal accuracy of the

signal has proven to be in the 2 meter range, and the vertical

accuracy is nearly as good. There are now 263 LPV approaches,

with the FAA expecting to add 300 more in the next fiscal

year. Approach ceiling minimums are generally 250', with

visibility minimums of 3/4 or 1/2 mile (depending upon runway lighting and markings).

LPV Approach Procedure

Development Accelerating

by Mary Ann Davis, GPS TAC/FAA ATO-W

The number of LPV approaches available throughout the U.S.

continues to grow. This accelerated growth is due to FAA’s

aggressive efforts to meet the strong demand for these

approaches. As you may have read in our last edition of the

SATNAV News, LPV approaches provide a number of benefits

to the pilots and to the airports they serve. As a result, demand

for these approaches has been staggering.

To meet this demand, the FAA is rapidly producing new LPVs.

Traditionally, new procedures are published every 56 days.

However, to meet the demand, the FAA has been publishing

new procedures on a monthly basis. Since mid-summer, the

FAA has published 169 new LPVs. This includes 44 on July

7th, 26 on August 4th, 76 on September 1st, and another 23 on

September 29th. This brings the total number of LPVs within

the U.S. to 263 as of September 29th.

If you are interested in keeping up with where these new

approaches are becoming available, please select the “GPS/

WAAS Approaches” button from the front page of our website

(http://gps.faa.gov). There you will find the most recent list

of LPVs by publication date. Additionally, you can find other

information and statistics on WAAS-related procedure

development. We hope you find this information helpful and

get the opportunity to fly an LPV soon.

Performance-Based

Navigation

by Jeff Williams, Manager, ATO RNAV/RNP Group

The FAA, in cooperation with aviation stakeholders, is implementing performance-based navigation in the National Airspace System (NAS). Two key components of performancebased navigation are Area Navigation (RNAV) and Required

Navigation Performance (RNP). Each includes lateral navigation standards for performance, functionality, and capability.

These standards allow the flexibility to design more efficient

airspace and instrument procedures that collectively improve

safety, access, capacity and efficiency, and minimize environmental impacts.

RNAV is a method of navigation that enables aircraft to fly

on any desired flight path within the coverage of referenced

NAVAIDS, within the limits of self-contained systems, or a

combination of these capabilities. The safety of an RNAV

route or procedure is achieved through a combined use of

aircraft navigation accuracy, air traffic radar monitoring and

communications, and route separation.

RNP uses RNAV for navigation, with the addition of on-board

navigation containment monitoring and pilot alerting when

the required performance level in not sufficient for the route

or procedure flown. This on-board performance monitoring

and alerting reduces reliance on air traffic control intervention and pilot/controller communications, providing safety

benefits and allowing more efficient procedure and route design.
5

The FAA Roadmap for PerformanceBased Navigation describes RNAV and

RNP concepts and operational goals

for the en route, arrival/departure

and approach phases of flight for the

near term through 2006, mid term

through 2012, and the far term

through 2020. Approximately 90%

of the U.S. carrier fleet is RNAV capable and about 30% is RNP capable.

As these numbers increase, the Roadmap provides a strategy to

leverage advances in communication, navigation and surveillance to derive benefits in capacity, efficiency and environmental goals.

Performance-based navigation resulted in development of

RNAV “Q” routes in the en route environment. The routes,

designed for use above FL180, can be flown using GPS or

DME/DME/IRU. Q-routes require navigation track keeping

accuracy of ±2 nautical miles. Twenty routes have been published and 23 more are under development. Q-routes provide

capacity and efficiency gains by allowing qualified traffic to

be taken off crowded conventional routes.

Below FL180, RNAV IFR Terminal Transition Routes

(RITTRs), called “T” routes, allow improved access to Class B

and Class C airspace for GPS-equipped general aviation aircraft. The T-routes segregate aircraft transiting airspace from

arrivals/departures at the primary airport. The first T-routes

were charted in the Charlotte, NC, in September 2005. Additional routes are under development for Cincinnati, OH,

and Jacksonville, FL.

Terminal RNAV development includes Standard Instrument

Departures (SIDs) and Standard Terminal Arrival Routes

(STARs). The FAA published 36 RNAV SIDs and 16 RNAV

STARs in FY 2005, including 13 SIDs at Atlanta, GA, and 16

SIDs at Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX.

Immediate, tangible benefits have been noted. Controller/

pilot transmissions are reduced over 30 percent, there is a

significant reduction in track dispersion, and the more efficient procedure designs reduce flight distances resulting in

fuel savings for the airlines.

RNAV approach procedures have been used since 1969. One

Roadmap focus is on the benefits to be gained from RNP applications in the approach arena. The FAA, in concert with

the joint FAA/industry Performance Based Operations Aviation Rulemaking Committee (PARC), has developed design

criteria, aircraft and operator requirements for RNP approaches with values ranging from RNP 0.3 to RNP 0.1 - i.e.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) RNAV Standard Instrument Departures
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3/10 to 1/10 of a nautical mile navigation accuracy. A variety

of aircraft system capabilities are employed to achieve lower

minima while maintaining safety.

A category of RNP approach procedure, the “Special Aircraft

and Aircrew Authorization Required”, or RNP SAAAR, may

be developed by individual airlines and approved by the FAA

to take advantage of specific equipment configurations, aircrew qualifications and operating procedures. RNP SAAAR

procedures are in development with airlines at Palm Springs,

CA; Portland OR; Houston, TX; and New York, NY airports.

The FAA has refined SAAAR approach procedure criteria and

recently published public-use RNP SAAAR criteria. The

associated operator approval and aircraft performance

requirements are also ready for publication. The first public

RNP SAAAR approach was published for Reagan Washington

National (DCA) in September 2005, and Alaska Airlines is

expected to be the first carrier approved for the new procedure.

Production of RNP SAAAR procedures for other locations

will begin in October 2005.

Performance-based navigation made significant advances in

NAS operations in FY 2005, and FY 2006 promises to be

even more dynamic. The combined FAA and aviation stakeholder partnership will continue development of RNAV/RNP

en route, arrival/departure and approach routes and procedures, and will jointly pursue the communication, navigation

and surveillance advances projected in the Roadmap for Performance-Based Navigation.

Federal Aviation Administration

800 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20591

http://gps.faa.gov