Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) claims it has been awarded the first governmental Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) contract designed to harness signals from all current and planned positioning satellite systems.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation will use the satellite reference network that will rely on signals from GPS, Russia’s Glonass and Europe’s planned Galileo system. The total available satellite signals will exceed 80 when all the Galileo satellites are in service, and system upgrades and additions to the GPS and GLONASS systems are completed, Topcon said.

"This contract marks the turning of a page in the precision positioning industry," Ray O’Connor, TPS president and CEO, said in a statement. The Tennessee Department of Transportation "clearly understands the powerful impact that having access to all available satellites can have in guaranteeing increased accuracy and productivity on state transportation improvement projects."