Archive 2003

NovAtel Inc. Announces Development and Production of Next Generation WAAS Technology

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Sonia Ross (403) 295-4532

(Calgary, Alberta, Canada, November 5, 2003)- NovAtel Inc. (NASDAQ: NGPS), a precise positioning technology company, announced the receipt of three letter contracts, worth a total $1,266,000 US, from Raytheon Company to begin production of a Common Reference Receiver (CRR), and to continue development and build of engineering unit models of the Ground Uplink System (GUS) receiver and GUS Signal Generator. These programs are part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) FOC Upgrade System and the new WAAS Geostationary Communication & Control Segment (GCCS). In addition to the above letter contracts, NovAtel and Raytheon expect to further definitize these contracts before the end of the year. Provided NovAtel’s development proposals are accepted and the corresponding contracts awarded, the Company expects this work to provide revenues of up to $7.9 million US over the next three years. Details of these awards autlined in the following paragraphs.

Most recently, NovAtel has been authorized by the FAA to begin work on the production of a new WAAS CRR. This receiver incorporates the Company’s latest generation Multipath Estimating Delay Lock Loop (MEDLL)®, Satellite Quality Monitoring (SQM) and SafeTrac ® Cross-Correlation detection technologies. MEDLL provides highly accurate range measurements, fast reacquisition of lost satellites, and superior tracking in the presence of RF interference. NovAtel estimates the total value of this contract to be up to $4.1 million US. The WAAS CRR will be initially fielded by Raytheon/FAA in new WAAS Reference Stations to expand WAAS availability coverage, and may then be retrofitted later into the existing WAAS rence Stations.

The FAA determined that additional Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite services for the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) were needed to provide the necessary coverage, availability and improved continuity of service to the aviation user. A contract was then awarded to Lockheed Martin and its team members Raytheon and Boeing for additional WAAS GEO satellites, with Raytheon receiving a subcontract for the ground based signal generator subsystem. As part of this program, in May 2003, NovAtel was authorized to begin work on the development, qualification, and build of engineering and production models of Ground Uplink Subsystem (GUS) receivers. Each GUS receiver contains three independent sections; each including L1/L2 and L5 card level receivers. The GUS receiver forms an integral part of the uplink signal generation control loop. NovAtel estimates the total value of thontract to be up to $2.3 million US.
Work has also been authorized on the qualification and build of engineering and production models of a GUS L1/L5 Signal Generator based on a prototype design supplied by Zeta Associates and GPS Silicon Valley and developed under the FAA’s WAAS R&D efforts. The GUS L1/L5 Signal Generator is the basic signal source for the L1 and L5 uplink signals to the new WAAS GEO satellite. NovAtel estimates the total value of this contract to be up to US $1.5 million.

“WAAS is a high priority for the FAA - a mid-continent GEO is needed to fill in the WAAS broadcast coverage and provide additional redundancy,” said Tony Murfin, NovAtel’s Vice President, Business Development. “We previously supplied GUS receivers for the existing WAAS GEO uplink subsystem, so we are able to bring lessons learned to the new GCCS requirement. We are also able to use NovAtel’s existing L5 technology to quickly provide the FAA with receivers incorporating the new GPS L5 frequency. This new CRR production authorization will bring the CRR development work we have been undertaking for the FAA over the last 15 months into the field. These letter contracts solidify NovAtel’s position as the premier supplier worldwide of WAAS receiver technology.”

The FAA’s WAAS uses a system of widely dispersed ground stations to provide integrity continuity, availability and improved accuracy to the Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Positioning System (SPS) navigation signal. The system of precisely surveyed ground reference stations positioned across the conterminous US, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, are utilized to collect GPS satellite data. Using this information, WAAS generates signal error correction and integrity messages and then broadcasts these messages via GEO satellites to receivers onboard aircraft. WAAS will support En-route through LPV (vertical guidance down to a 250 foot decision height) phases of flight for users with cfied WAAS avionics.
NovAtel Inc. is a leading provider of precise global positioning and augmentation technologies designed to afford our customers rapid integration and superior return on investment. The Company’s core technology is being applied in diversified positioning markets around the globe including agriculture, mining, marine, surveying, unmanned systems and machine control. NovAtel is also the prime supplier of GPS ground reference receivers to national satellite-based augmentation systems worldwide including the U.S. WAAS, Europe EGNOS, Japan MSAS and China SNAS. For more information, visit www.novatel.com.
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2002 sales of 16.8 billion, is an industry leader in defence, government and commercial electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Lexington, Mass., Raytheon employs more than 76,000 people worldwide.

Certain statements in this news release, including financial guidance, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or developments in the Company's industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, operating results of subsidiaries and joint ventures, establishing and maintaining effective distribution channels, certification and market acceptance of the Company's new products, impact and timing of large orders, credit risks of customers and joint ventures, financing of joint ventures, pricing pressures in the market and other competitive factors, maintaining technological leadership, timing of revenue recognition in connection with certain contracts, the ability to maintain supply of products from subcontract manufacturers, the procurement of components to build product, product defects and the impact of industry consolidations, together with the other risks and uncertainties described in the Company’s filings with the United St Securities and Exchange Commission.