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SpatialNews Press Release
NavCom Technology, Inc. becomes a JPL Technology Partner
The NCT StarFire Network™ is now Global
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April 16, 2001 --
REDONDO BEACH, CA (April 16, 2001) - NavCom Technology, Inc. (NavCom), a wholly
owned subsidiary of Deere & Company, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) announced today the creation of a collaboration between NavCom and NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The new venture will combine JPL’s Global Differential GPS
(GDGPS) system with the Deere/NavCom StarFire Network™. The union of these two systems
creates a fully integrated positioning system that provides highly accurate real-time
measurements globally.
“As the first worldwide dual-frequency positioning system, the enhanced StarFire
Network™ will provide much higher accuracy than existing regional systems and at a lower cost
to Deere equipment users worldwide,” said Deere & Company Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Robert W. Lane. “Our equipment users already profit from John Deere's growing
competency in integrating “information” and “machines” utilizing the StarFire Network™. This
exciting new venture further enhances our strategic goals to Run Smart, Run Fast and Run
Lean.”
“This collaboration creates a unique combination of human resources, technology and
infrastructure. It will accelerate NASA's ability to develop and test global real-time precise
positioning with GPS. NASA has authorized JPL to demonstrate, through the collaboration with
NavCom, an end-to-end GDGPS capability in support of ground, maritime, air and space
platforms. A significant portion of this effort is invested in enhancing and upgrading NASA’s
ground GPS network,” said Yoaz Bar-Sever, supervisor of Orbiter and Radio Metric Systems
Group at JPL.
As part of the collaboration, NavCom has licensed JPL’s Internet-based Global
Differential GPS (IGDG) software and algorithms from the California Institute of Technology
(Caltech). In 2000, IGDG won the prestigious NASA Software of the Year Award. Under the
terms of the collaborative agreement, NavCom will process data from NASA’s worldwide
network of reference sites in conjunction with data from NCT’s worldwide network of dual-
frequency reference sites through the fully redundant processing hubs at Redondo Beach and
Moline, Illinois.
This combination will make the signal available via the StarFire Network™, a satellite
distribution system originally developed for NavCom’s parent company, John Deere. Through
the StarFire Network™, NavCom will provide a continuous stream of correction data to
JPL/NASA on a 24-hour seven day a week basis.
“This NCT-JPL alliance provides for the first truly global real-time dual-frequency
positioning network,” says NavCom President Jim Litton. “As opposed to existing systems based
on regional networks using single-frequency, the StarFire Network™ is a dual-frequency system
in which all stations within the system are linked together. Through proprietary technology built
into NavCom’s dual-frequency receivers that correct for clock, orbit and the ionosphere, this
exceptional positioning accuracy is now available in the most remote regions of the world.”
The StarFire Network™ originally developed jointly by NavCom and the John Deere
Agricultural Management Systems (AMS) group, currently uses the GPS satellite system, L-
band communication satellites and a network of proprietary dual-frequency reference stations to
deliver real-time high precision positioning. The Network, via leased capacity on existing
communications satellites, offers unprecedented global accuracy. It is a fully automated self-
monitoring system of exceptional reliability with an up time of better than 99.99 percent.
Along with subscription service, the single piece of equipment needed to utilize the
system is NavCom’s SF-2000R™ receiver, an integrated communication and navigation unit,
which includes a GPS receiver and an L-band receiver integrated through a system processor as
one unit. The unique features of the StarFire Network™ and StarFire user equipment provide the
user with the lowest cost, highest accuracy, and most robust global positioning capability
available in the market today. Globally, new applications for GPS positioning data benefit the
economy, ecology and public health and safety.
In agriculture, for example, John Deere’s customers use GPS technology to produce
crops more efficiently, reduce pesticide and nitrogen fertilizer use in the environment and to
lower costs to farmers.
NASA is keenly interested in this capability as means to enable autonomy for a large
variety of Earth observing platforms and sensors, thus improving the timely detection and
response to natural hazards, and reducing operational costs. A variety of mobile science
instruments worldwide could generate finished products in real time, ready for interpretation,
with enormous savings in analysis cost and toil. In the area of natural hazard monitoring, real-
time data from radar platforms and from the ground network of GPS receivers could provide the
ability to monitor volcanic inflation precisely and in real time. Similarly, the spatial distribution
of motions before, during, and after major earthquakes can be precisely known almost
immediately.
Governments use the technology to save on the costs of conducting municipal surveys
and the mapping and maintenance of their infrastructure, which in turn benefits taxpayers.
Businesses use it for asset management in ways that allow additional returns on invested capital
to be passed on to consumers. As GPS technology improves in availability, reliability and as new
safety and cost benefits are discovered, the demographic of GPS users is continually growing
One of the world’s oldest and most respected enterprises, Deere & Company
(http://www.johndeere.com/) creates smart and innovative solutions, in the form of advanced
machines, services and concepts, for customers on the farm site, worksite and home site
worldwide.
JPL is a federally funded research and development facility managed by Caltech for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
NavCom Technology, Inc., a member of the John Deere Special Technologies Group,
specializes in developing and manufacturing satellite navigation, communication and GPS survey equipment. NavCom also provides technical and management consulting for advanced
GPS and satellite communications.
For information and technical specifications about the StarFire Network ™ or SF-
2000R™ receiver visit NavCom on the web at www.navcomtech.com, contact
sales@navcomtech.com, or telephone 310-937-7460 ext. 210.
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