Last week it was reported that government tests indicated LightSquared, Phil Falcone’s big bet in the sky, would cause “devastating interference” to all GPS devices in range. Today, the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Systems Engineering Forum said the venture would “degrade global-positioning system navigation devices that are nearby and as far away as outer space.” LightSquared, shares of which Harbinger Capital investors will receive should they have requested their cash back from the fund, however, is not worried.
“We are still digesting all of the data that came in over the last few weeks and months and we believe there is a solution,” Chris Stern, a LightSquared spokesman, said in an
interview.
Oh, there better be a solution. Otherwise a certain highly sought after singing and dancing pig is going to have to start considering his options.
LightSquared’s GPS Disruption Extends to Space, U.S. Study Finds [Bloomberg]
What’s Phil cooking up next, pigs with friggin’ laser beams attached to their heads?
What if this ends up being the event bringing about the War of the Worlds? Or the Rise of the Machines? Or Wesley Snipes from the cryo-freeze state? Think about it, it could be huge!
Phil–give me call. We pay cash.
/A. Bortnikov
Shares of LightSquared > Shares of UBS
Looks like another class action client to me.
Well yea there’s some interference with GPS but look at the bright side: No dropped calls!
This is totally unacceptable.
- Marvin the Martian
No dropped calls until the telcom satellite crashes b/c the positioning system gets screwed.
Let this be a lesson: just because your pig can play Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” does not mean he is qualified to handle complex electrical engineering.
or maybe HE IS THE SOLUTION.
Will it result in an Earth-shattering “KABOOOM!!!!”???
Fortunately, most Americans don’t need a GPS system to find the back of the unemployment line…
Unfortunately your comments fucking suck.
Haters. If we installed his system in Libya we would have had their planes dropping out of the sky rather needing 3 countries to bonb their airfields continously for a week.
Word-up Phil. Love the sky debris fallback plan.
That would assume the Libyan Air Force had planes modern enough to be equipped w GPS.
Lightsquared spokesman Stern continued, ” The headlines are somewhat misleading. Saying the problem extends to outer space exaggerates its magnitude. After all, outer space begins 100 kilometers above our heads and yet most people use their GPS devices within two meters of the ground. So, in a way, we have already solved 99.998% of the problem by merely discussing it here.”
or just planes
The plane has crashed into the fucking mountain… because of Lightsquared…
Any RF Engineer could have told you this wasn’t gong to work.
Hey! Forgetting someone?
- Gartman
Not sure why I’m being serious here, but, satellites don’t use GPS. They’re referring to interference on the ground, similar to a pirate radio.
GPS is controlled by the DoD.
Three things would happen:
- GPS reception would be jammed (and, it is)
- Libya would have to use civilian GPS if they could even get a signal
- Civilian accuracy is great for driving a car where you have 20 seconds to turn, but worthless for positioning a bomb moving at near terminal velocity from 20,000 ft down to an accuracy of tighter than half a galaxy. Regular physics is better.
-guy whose not sure why he’s being so serious and should probably jump off a bridge for that post, but, has had a few drinks, and designs weapons for a living, so, who really gives a fuck anyway