GPS

The US has invested 16 years and 8 billion dollars in renewing the software of its GPS network. Result: a failure of epic proportions

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The Next-Generation Operational Control System project (OCX) was going to modernize the constellation of the United States’ more than 30 GPS satellites. The company RTX Corporation (previously known as Raytheon) managed to win the project in 2010 with a budget of 3.7 billion dollars. The project was supposed to be completed in 2016, but in reality the US has spent $8 billion and 16 years later has an absolute disaster on its hands. 16 years of broken promises. In 2010 the iPad had just appeared on the scene and cloud computing was a somewhat diffuse concept. The project of the US Government was reasonable, and proposed that the OCX system be operational by the time Lockheed Martin’s new GPS III satellites debuted. The development became a chaos of bugs and requirements changes, and to this day it is unclear when, if ever, it will be completed. In Xataka 90% of Iran’s oil industry depends on a tiny island. One that is already on the radar of the US and Israel A fortune invested. The financial management of the project is the first big disaster. The initial budget was estimated at 1.5 billion dollars, but since the award until today that figure has risen to reach almost 7.7 billion of current dollars, to which another 400 million are added to support an improved version of the satellites, the GPS IIIF. This increase is not due in large part to the project suddenly being much more ambitious or more capable, but rather to the costs of having been fixing everything that has gone wrong since they started working on it. Software costs more than satellites. Every time software fails an integration test, the bill runs into tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. That has made the OCX system one of the most expensive and least efficient software projects in recent US military history. In fact, it far exceeds the cost of the satellites themselves that it had to control: the 22 GPS III satellites of the contract signed in 2018 have a budget of 7.2 billion dollars. Satellites of the future controlled by a fairground shotgun. Currently the United States has a fleet of GPS III satellites in orbit capable of emitting much more powerful “M-code” signals and interference resistantsomething that among other things allocates them especially for military applications. The problem is that since the OCX software not workingthey are managing them with control systems inherited from the 90s. It is as if we had a VHS video connected to watch movies on an 8K Smart TV: the potential is there, but one of the components is an absolute bottleneck. {“videoId”:”x8wlh9q”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”United States vs. China: The CHIPS WAR”, “tag”:”webedia-prod”, “duration”:”1611″} The cybersecurity nightmare. One of the big problems of this project has been the cybersecurity requirements. OCX was designed to resist cyberattacks from powers such as Russia or China, but that requirement has become a spectacular technical burden. Pentagon standards have evolved so quickly that they have not been able to be adapted to an architecture that begins to become obsoleteand covering successive patches is locking the system in a complex vicious circle: the software is never finished because more and more vulnerabilities appear. Failed tests. The latest report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been the final straw. During the tests the system again showed once again instabilitywhich has forced the final delivery to be delayed to the end of 2026 or even 2027. Frank Calvelli, of the Air Force, has expressed his dissatisfaction with that unacceptable management of private industry: the strategic advantage that this project should offer at a time like this is inaccessible due to the disastrous progress of the project. It’s not that difficult. for a long time the excuse for justify the delays was that OCX was “the most complex software ever created for space,” but other players in the sector have shown that achieving these types of technical milestones is possible. SpaceX has demonstrated this with technical “miracles” like its reusable Falcon 9 or with the development of Starship, for example, so those arguments are falling on deaf ears now. Waiting for a better GPS. These problems also affect us end users, who will not be able to enjoy the L5 signals for now. This much more robust frequency will significantly improve accuracy in urban centers with many tall buildings. The irony is tragic: we cannot use extraordinary space infrastructure because the base stations cannot cope with it. While waiting for the problems to be resolved, the learning is clear: the software cannot be a monster that takes 16 years to build In Xataka The GPS in the Baltic has been experiencing interference for months and the culprit is becoming increasingly clear: Russia And while as always, China. While the US crashes against its project to renew the GPS constellation, China has once again managed to “become independent” from Western technology. Your satellite navigation system Beidouit does not replace GPS, true, but It already complements it in 140 countries. Once again China’s long-term view has its obvious result: it has taken 20 years in deploying its constellation, but they already surpass the GPS system in metrics such as signal availability or integrated messaging services. Europe, by the way, also has its own alternative. In Xataka |GPS “dead zones” are spreading around the world: jammers are to blame for confusing drones (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news The US has invested 16 years and 8 billion dollars in renewing the software of its GPS network. Result: a failure of epic proportions was originally published in Xataka by Javier Pastor .

The ships of the oil “ghost fleet” turn off their GPS to avoid being detected. Malaysia is going to hunt them with drones

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In the crystal clear waters of Southeast Asia, where the Strait of Malacca meets the South China Sea, a war is being fought that does not appear in conventional military reports. There are no trenches, but there are rusty helmets that turn off their GPS signal to disappear from international radars. This is the kingdom of the “ghost fleet”, an ecosystem of lawless ships that, according to the latest researchhas found its safe harbor in Malaysia, doubling its activity in just twelve months. However, the time for impunity appears to be running out: from the use of artificial intelligence to the deployment of naval drones, technology is beginning to illuminate the darkest corners of the ocean. The black market boom. The situation on the east coast of Malaysia has ceased to be an open secret and has become a global security problem. According to the specialized media Seatrade Maritime“ship-to-ship” (STS) oil transfers have recently doubled, going from just seven weekly operations to peaks of fifteen in just one year. This increase responds to an infrastructure designed to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Russia, Iran and Venezuela, using Malaysian waters as a gigantic clandestine service station before the crude oil continues on its way, mainly to China. Analyst Charlie Brown, of the organization UANIhas managed to capture a disturbing reality through satellite images and direct photos. In mid-January 2026, some 60 vessels linked to Iranian oil and another 30 with Russian and Venezuelan cargoes were waiting at anchor in Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone. These ships not only operate outside the law, but they do so under deplorable technical conditions. Images distributed by UANI show tankers with false names broadbrushed on their hulls and flags of convenience hidden under tarps to deceive authorities. The metamorphosis of the threat. What began as a purely economic strategy to keep Moscow’s revenue flowing has mutated into something far more dangerous for European security. As the chronicles of my colleague Miguel Jorge relate in XatakaRussia has converted part of this fleet into covert hybrid warfare platforms. It’s not just about moving barrels; Now these ships incorporate “technicians” who, under a civilian guise, are usually special forces veterans or mercenaries linked to the Wagner group. These agents wield authority that often exceeds that of the ship’s captain and have been accused of photographing military installations and monitoring underwater cables in EU and NATO waters. An example of this tension was experienced with the oil tanker Boracaywhich after embarking Russian technicians in the Baltic, was intercepted by the French navy off Brittany after suspicious drones were detected flying over critical infrastructure in Copenhagen. The ghost fleet is today, in essence, an extension of the Kremlin’s security apparatus sailing with impunity under the flags of countries like Gabon or Gambia. A new fragmented energy order. From the academic level, the Elcano Royal Institute’s analysis highlights that this phenomenon is the symptom of a “deglobalization” of the gas and oil market. In your reportresearcher Gonzalo Escribano explains that international value chains, previously based on efficiency and transparency, are being replaced by “geoeconometrically armored” circuits. Europe finds itself at a crossroads: although it seeks to disassociate itself from Russian energy, the persistence of these black markets complicates strategic autonomy. This fragmentation has even reached the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) market. According to Bloombergsanctioned Russian gas transfers have been documented in Malaysian waters, a technically much more complex operation than crude oil. The ship Pearlmanaged by an opaque company based in a Dubai hotel, is the face of this new network that desperately seeks buyers in Asia for the gas that Europe no longer wants. The technological response: AI and drones to the rescue. Faced with a fleet that “turns off” the real world by hacking GPS signals (spoofing) and the shutdown of transponders, the response is being purely technological. The middle CNBC highlights thatof the ships loaded with Iranian crude in 2025, 96% made dark transfers and 77% falsified their location. To combat this “blackout”, Ukraine has shown the way with an innovation that has made conventional fleets obsolete: the use of artificial intelligence in naval drones. The drones Be Baby have multiplied its capabilities thanks to AI, allowing precision attacks from thousands of kilometers away. In a recent operation near the Turkish coast, these drones hit Russian ghost fleet tankers, specifically targeting their rudders and propulsion systems. The objective is not to sink them, which would cause an ecological disaster of catastrophic dimensions, but to render them useless and turn them into an unbearable economic burden for those who operate them. This “precision offensive” is forcing insurers and shipping companies to reconsider the risk of collaborating with Moscow, raising the costs of war for the Kremlin. The dilemma of safety and the environment. The proliferation of elderly ships, without liability insurance and with dubious maintenance, is an environmental time bomb. Lars Barstad, CEO of the operator Frontline, warned in the Financial Times that organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) appear to be “sleeping at the wheel”. Barstad notes that it is only a matter of time before a major disaster occurs, as these ships operate outside of any regulatory framework. Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure increases. The US has begun a campaign of aggressive seizures, such as that of the ship Sailor (before Bella 1), which was boarded by the US Coast Guard in North Atlantic waters after a chase from the Caribbean. This “gunboat diplomacy” of the 21st century, analyzed by the Atlantic Councilposes immense legal challenges: once a steel giant full of crude oil is seized, the maintenance and storage costs are astronomical. The end of the shadow. The current geopolitical dashboard report shows that Malaysia, Spain or the waters of the Caribbean are just scenes of a larger battle for visibility. The ghost fleet survives in the shadow of legal ambiguity, but the advance of artificial intelligence and constant satellite monitoring are tightening the fence. As the analysis concludes from my partnerthis is not a frontal … Read more

Madrid had one of the underground labyrinths without more complex GPS. Google and Waze have tamed it with 1,600 Bluetooth beacons

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We are so accustomed to GPS that, when suddenly disappears, a simple journey can become a headache. It is not that we have lost the ability to interpret the signs of a lifetime, but that the way of moving through the big cities has changed so much that this technology has become indispensable. The M-30 is a good example. Their tunnels form one of the most complex systems in Europe and, for many drivers, entering them is a risk of disorientation. Taking a wrong way and ending kilometers from fate is not a rarity, but an experience shared by both Madrid and visitors. The reason was clear: The GPS signal was easily lost underground and sometimes returned absurd data. Aware of this, the Madrid City Council presented in September 2024 a plan to display electronic beacons with Bluetooth technology. Installation works began in April 2025 And, five months later, The system is already underway. The idea is to continue adding new beacons over time, but the current network already allows assisted navigation to work in the M-30 tunnels. For a road that acts as a real ring ring of the capital, the difference is not less: moving through it should no longer be an act of faith. An aid that comes at the right time Moving through the M-30 not only requires dealing with its tunnel framework: works at critical points such as A-5 or the sales zone, together with the usual congestion, make any waste of time weigh more than ever. Being sure that we are not going to mislead in the middle of the curve or to take the wrong exit is not a whim, it is a way to win minutes and avoid dislikes on a day -to -day basis. ⠀ 1,600 devices have been installed along 48 kilometers of tunnels, with an investment of 141,000 euros. The objective is to reach 2,700 beacons at the end of the year, once the installation is completed in the rest of the underground network. They are low consumption devices that work with batteries, with an autonomy between four and six years, and issue a unidirectional signal without collecting user information. When detecting that signal, the smartphone calculates the position of the driver in real time and keeps navigation activates, even without GPS coverage. The impact on the mobile battery is minimal thanks to the use of Bluetooth Low Energy. A huge impact on daily mobility The M-30 supports the passage of More than half a million vehicles. Solving a problem such as low -ground loss means improving the experience of hundreds of thousands of drivers That depend on this route to get to work time, home or any point in the city. Another key aspect is that beacons do not require additional mobile data or complicated configuration: it is enough to have activated bluetooth and grant permission to the application. The project makes Madrid the European city with the largest network of active beacons and in the second in the world after Sydney. It has been possible thanks to the collaboration between the City Council of Madrid, Madrid Calle 30, Waze, Google and Imalesapi, the company in charge of the installation. The challenge was not minor: The M-30 has a large number of tickets and exitsin addition to especially complex sections, such as the one from the Prague bridge to the Toledo bridge, with two parallel but overlapping tunnels. The Paris Network, with the Tunnels of the Défense and La Péripherique, is also equipped with beacons of this type. And outside Europe we find even better examples: the Lincoln tunnel under the Hudson River in New York, Queens-Midtown under the East River or Hugh L. Carey, which connects Brooklyn with Manhattan. Madrid thus adds to a very small list of cities that have decided to bet on this technology, and does so in one of the most demanding scenarios on the continent. How is it activated on Google Maps and Waze The system already works in the two most used navigation applications, although with nuances. Google Maps: In Android, you have to go to Navigation settings and activate the option Bluetooth tunnel beacons. In iOS, for now, it is not available. Waze: Simply have the bluetooth on and the permits granted. If the user has it deactivated, the app itself will show a notification when approaching a tunnel with beacons so that it can activate it at the time. Images | Google | Madrid City Council In Xataka | Spain fined Ryanair to stop collecting hand luggage. I did not count on Ryanair had a more powerful ally

In 2023 someone hacked the GPS signal of 20 planes. The European alternative Galileo already offers an option to avoid it

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A pilot Fly on the Baltic Sea When, suddenly, all his navigation systems told him that he was tens of kilometers of his real position, drawing ghost circles on Russian territory. Weeks before, in the Middle East, More than 20 crews They had reported a “total navigation failure”, forcing aerial drivers to guide them blind. They were not technical problems. They were deliberate attacks on GPS systems, known as spoofing or signal supplantation. In this type of attack, a powerful transmitter on land emits false signals that mimic the satellites, cheating the plane to calculate an erroneous position and route. Already in 2012, a team from the University of Texas showed that it was possible Take control of a civil drone through Spoofing. In 2017 there were the first cases with ships passing through the black sea. Today the Baltic and the Persian Gulf are black points where maritime operators and airlines routinely report similar incidents. Europe’s response is already here. Until now, the aviation sector has avoided a catastrophe thanks to redundant systems and the expertise of the pilots. But The threat is real, it is growing And you need a robust technological solution. Therefore, the Galileo constellation, the European GPS, has just officially activated its Osnma service: An additional security layer that hinders this type of deception without degrading the performance or precision of positioning. How Osnma works. The Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) is a kind of digital authenticity seal available for free For Galileo users. In essence, it is a cryptographic protocol that introduces authentication data into the signaling system itself. Specifically, in the I/NAV message of the E1-B signal; An already reserved space, hence it does not affect service performance. The process to have a compatible receiver is to obtain the cryptographic public key from the GNSS European Services Center. Upon receiving the signal, the receiver uses that key to verify the “digital signature” of the message. If the firm is false or does not exist, the receiver knows that he is being a victim of a hoax and can alert the pilot or the autonomous system. Prevents the Spoofingnot the Jamming. Osnma makes supplanting a Galileo signal exponentially more difficult. However, it does not prevent the Jammingthat is, someone interfere with the signal through a brute force attack That the receptors saturate. It is good news equally: it is no longer enough to issue a false signal; The cryptographic firm in real time, an immense computational feat should also be falsified. OSNMA will not only serve to Increase security in air and sea traffic management. It will also be key to the future of autonomous cars, smart tacographers and road use systems. Even for sectors such as telecommunications, energy and finance, which depend on an ultra -precise time signal to synchronize their operations. Image | ESA, Euspa In Xataka | The GPS has become the Achilles heel of modern aviation. And engineering already has its sustained ready

Airplanes have been depending on GPS for decades. Some engineers have another idea to replace it: quantum technology

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Airbus and the company derived from Google focused on quantum technology and IA, Sandboxaq, have completed more than 150 flight hours Testing Magnava revolutionary system that uses Quantum sensors to detect the unique magnetic “fingerprints” of each point on the earth. The initial results have been promising, and are a sign that technology could rival the Traditional GPS and even overcome it in precision. Why is it relevant. The GPS has become the Achilles heel of modern aviation. Interference attacks and Spoofing They are dramatically increasing in conflicting areas such as the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia, and this It also affects civil flights. The military use these techniques to confuse missiles and drones, but the consequences extend dangerously to commercial aviation. Hence the importance of looking for a viable alternative to GPS. Magnav. Image: Sandboxaq The secret of its operation. Magnav has more or less the size of a toaster, and has a laser that shoots photons against electrons. When the laser goes out, these electrons release the absorbed photons with a unique energy firm that reflects the intensity of the earth’s magnetic field in that exact location. An artificial intelligence algorithm processes this information and compares it with detailed magnetic maps to determine the position of the plane. Each square meter of the planet has an unrepeatable magnetic firm, created by the iron particles of the earth’s core that magnetize the minerals of the cortex. More precision and more difficult to supplant. Unlike GPS, which depends on vulnerable digital signals from satellites, quantum sensors are completely analog and process data generated entirely on board. Jack Hidary, CEO of Sandboxaq, Explain that this makes them “essentially impossible to interfere or supplant.” During the evidence, Magnav managed to meet the standards of the Federal American Aviation Administration 100% of the time, maintaining precision within 2 nautical miles. Even more impressive, it reached a 550 -meter accuracy in 64% of the occasions. Beyond aircraft. The experts They predict A quantum sensor market valued between 1,000 and 6,000 million dollars by 2040. This technology promises to detect submarines and hidden tunnels in defensive applications, and weak magnetic signs of the heart and brain in medicine, allowing non -invasive diagnoses. Joe Depa, Global Innovation Director of EY, Underline That “we are not talking about something within 20 years, but about something that is here and now.” The next step. Sandboxaq plans to go first to the defense sector before expanding to commercial flights. Although more evidence and certifications are required, Hidary stands out that have overcome “the difficult part: demonstrate that technology works.” According to him, it is the “first novel absolute navigation system that we know in the last 50 years.” Cover image | Ross Parmly In Xataka | The 777x is Boeing’s great bet to return to the top: folding wings, redesign cabin and the largest engine in the world

Desperate to find his stolen motorcycle, he ended up locating a container with another 25 about to sail. It wasn’t thanks to GPS

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In Spain a motorcycle is steal every six minutes. It is enough with a van and two or three people willing to make it disappear. It is not the only country that this scourge suffers. In the United Kingdom Motorcycles are stolen worth three million each monthsomething that leads to a curious story. One in which the London police could find much more than he was looking for. Biketrac It is a company specialized in GPS tracking devices based in the United Kingdom. Next to the police, and after investigating the theft of a client, he has been able to locate many more motorcycles than he had planned. One of the company’s clients called those responsible for the service, desperate after the theft of their BMW R 1200 GSone of the stars in the German house. Biketrac, which offers a tracking service by combining both GPS and radiofrequency, located the motorcycle at a point of Essexa small county that may sound to you if you like Viking history. They soon realized that the motorcycle was still moving, getting closer and more to a load spring near the port. They were quite clear that thieves wanted to send the motorcycle abroad, and that time ran against him. According to the company, the authorities could be indicated to the exact container that contained them thanks to the radio frequency, and not to the GPS. Within a container, GPS ceases to be a precise technologyand that is where the radiofrequency You can emit small radio pulses that, tracked with appropriate portable receptors, can determine locations exactly. Simply approach the container and check the signal intensity. When it reaches its maximum, you are facing it. With the police authorization, readings were taken in the area to triangular the exact position of the container, identifying its corresponding number to subsequently inform the authorities. Location and number in hand, the police requested permission from the port to access the container. Bingo. Inside it was not alone the BMW R 1200 GS, there were a total of 25 motorcycles stacked in the container, ready to leave the country. This was how, in the task of finding a single motorcycle, almost thirty of them, thanks to radio frequency technology. An unusual in most trackers sold in Spain. Image | BMW In Xataka | Electronics has started a war to kill the most sacred piece of motorcycles: the traditional clutch

China has broken the dependence of the GPS in two decades. His proposal has already convinced 140 countries

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China has just published The data of your satellite navigation system (Beidou) for 2024. After the figures a geopolitical transformation is read that has not made much noise but that is full of meaning. Why is it important. The United States controlled global satellite navigation through GPS. China has created a viable alternative in just twenty years, breaking its own agency and also offering options to other countries. Beidou began as a Chinese military project in the 1990s. Today it is recognized by the United Nations as a global satellite navigation provider, integrated into eleven international organizations. In figures: The Chinese satellite navigation sector invoiced 79.9 billion dollars in 2024. That is 7.4% more than in 2023. Beidou processes more than one billion daily location requests (it is not a False Friend: one billion). And guide 4,000 million kilometers of navigation every day. Besides… 288 million Chinese mobile phones already integrate Beidou. The system covers 99% of urban and rural roads in the country lane precision. Yes, but. Beidou has not displaced GPS as a dominant global standard. Most current devices use several satellite constellations (GPS, Beidou, Galileo, Glonass) to improve precision and reliability. The 140 countries that use Beidou do it mainly as a complement to GPS, not as a total substitute. And they adopt it differently: More than 30 African nations They have installed continuous reference stations for high precision services in agriculture, water management and weather monitoring. In Latin America, ports like Chancay’s in Peru They integrate Beidou In smart navigation systems. In Asia and the Middle East, several countries use Chinese constellation to complement transport and logistics services. The majority does not completely replace GPS, but adds Beidou as a second option to reduce dependencies or improve coverage in regions where US signals are weaker. One of Beidou’s strengths is his best coverage in the southern hemisphere. In 2020 he completed his global scope. Between the lines. China has not defeated GPS, but has achieved something equally valuable: reduce its critical technological dependence. The United States can no longer cut access to satellite navigation as a diplomatic weapon against China. And now what. Beidou marks the Chinese patron: not completely replace Western systems, but to create viable alternatives that reduce strategic dependencies. Not to compete, but build your own parallel reality. As Huawei has doneamong others. Satellite navigation is only the beginning. China replicates this strategy in 5g, AI and renewable energies. In Xataka | China is turning its roofs into power plants. He has achieved in three months what in Europe costs three years Outstanding image | Xataka

The M-30 tunnels are an absolute nightmare for your mobile GPS. Madrid wants to fix it using bluetooth

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If you have ever crossed the tunnels of the M-30it is more than likely that you have run out of coverage at some point. It is a more serious problem than it might seem, since the direct translation of not being clear what the correct exit ends up generating less fluidity and traffic safety. The Madrid City Council is aware of the problemand has announced the installation of a system that will allow GPS navigation systems, such as Google or Waze, to work properly within these areas. The problem. The M30 tunnels are especially extensive and thick, a terrible combination for the signal of the GPS satellites I can end up going through them. It is more than usual to lose connection when we are inside and, taking into account the importance of real -time calculations for current GPS systems, this ends up translating into a insured malfunction. The solution. From this Monday, the Madrid City Council will begin the installation of a Bluetooth electronic beacon system in order to allow guided navigation while we circulate through these tunnels. “The initiative is based on the implementation of location beacons with the objective of resolving the lack of the inviability of GPS navigation inside the tunnels as a result of the lack of visibility of satellites that allow obtaining a precise and continuous positioning through triangulation techniques.” The City Council itself admits that it is unfeasible to use GPS systems inside the tunnel. So in the absence of GPS, Bluetooth. How will it work. Madrid will locate different Bluetooth beacons inside the tunnels, with distances of 20 to 40 meters between each of them. They will be located on the sides of the tunnel by specific supports. These beacons will issue an identification signal to their own position, something that browsers can use to determine where we are. Because yes, although we are accustomed to using GPS signal, navigation apps can use Bluetooth when there is no coverage. Does not work by default. The problem of this measure is that Google Maps, the most used maps app in Spain, does not allow the default Bluetooth to use. It is necessary to navigate to the Android settings, go to “navigation”, and activate the Bluetooth beacons. In iOS the option is not available, although it is enough to activate the location functions so that it can work. Image | Xataka and Madrid City Council In Xataka | GPS locator purchase guide: tips and recommendations to succeed and seven models from 30 euros

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