Coursera Spring Sale
40% Off Coursera Plus Annual!
Grab it
Explore the development of R-Mode, a terrestrial navigation system designed to operate independently of satellite technology in response to widespread GNSS interference in the Baltic Sea region. Learn about the technical challenges and real-world implications of GPS jamming affecting aircraft, ships, and timing systems across the region, including specific incidents like the telecommunications disruption in Gdańsk during Easter 2025. Discover how engineers at DLR and European partners have been building an alternative navigation infrastructure since 2017, using existing radio beacons and maritime infrastructure to provide positioning services without relying on vulnerable satellite systems. Examine the technical aspects of designing signals that coexist with legacy systems, the process of installing coastal transmitters, and the challenges of testing shipborne receivers in harsh maritime conditions. Understand the evolution of this project from an obscure research initiative to a strategically important infrastructure system, including discussions of perception shifts, political implications, and the irony of ESA's proposal to create a satellite-based backup system with similar vulnerabilities. Gain insights into the intersection of civilian open-source technology and national security considerations, along with personal experiences from field testing in the Baltic Sea and achieving the first stable position fixes in challenging conditions.
