PNT Signals Broadcast from Commercial Demo Satellite
Precision LEO PNT signals have been broadcast from space to ground from the Xona Space demonstration satellite. The Huginn satellite was launched one year ago as the first-ever, commercially funded Low Earth Orbit (LEO) PNT mission. Xona’s mission has progressed through many of its objectives, proving the capability of its patented core PULSAR technology.
“Our first test satellite has provided invaluable insights and data into the unique capabilities and challenges of building a LEO PNT constellation.”
Dr. Tyler Reid, Xona Space Systems
As well as successfully broadcasting LEO PNT signals, Since the launch of Huginn, the Xona team has:
Validated Xona’s ability to provide cm-level user positioning using their in-house developed precision satellite hardware and software stack.
Demonstrated the on-orbit reprogrammability of Xona’s proprietary digital navigation waveform generator.
Demonstrated precision satellite navigation capabilities using low-cost commercial-off-the-shelf components.
Validated Xona’s patented distributed clock architecture that is a key enabler to providing precision PNT without large atomic clocks onboard.
Commercial PNT Signal Broadcast a Step Towards Commercial Service
These achievements represent a significant and exciting leap forward for space-based PNT and the GNSS community at large. The company is collaborating with its PULSAR ecosystem partners to integrate Xona capability into traditional GNSS user equipment and GNSS simulation tools with as little as a firmware update. Xona is finalizing validation and optimization of its LEO PNT technology as it continues on the path to offer its commercial PULSAR service.
Xona says its PULSAR service will advance capabilities in global PNT security, resilience, and accuracy by augmenting existing GNSS while also operating as an independent PNT constellation. Xona’s high-power signals utilize modern signal structures and security techniques, adding resilience in challenging RF environments.
“Our first test satellite has provided invaluable insights and data into the unique capabilities and challenges of building a LEO PNT constellation. The testing has validated much of the technology behind Xona’s system architecture,” said Dr. Tyler Reid, CTO of Xona Space Systems. “Key findings and lessons learned from the Huginn mission will be directly applied to the production satellite that is in development now to better support modern applications that require precise, secure, and available PNT signals at scale.”
(Source: Xona Space news release. Images from file)