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Navigation News 6 June 2025 - 28 June 2025

Xona’s Pulsar Constellation Secures $92M to Revolutionize GPS with Centimeter-Accurate, Unhackable Navigation

Xona’s Pulsar Constellation Secures $92M to Revolutionize GPS with Centimeter-Accurate, Unhackable Navigation

Xona’s Pulsar constellation plans to deploy 250–300 small LEO satellites at about 326 miles (525 km) altitude to deliver centimeter-level PNT. Pulsar signals are encrypted and authenticated, with satellites orbiting ~40× closer to Earth than GPS to produce about 100× stronger received signals. A ‘cloud architecture for atomic clocks’ coordinates timing from ground stations instead of placing ultra-expensive clocks on every satellite, delivering nanosecond-level timing. Most existing GPS chipsets can access Pulsar signals with a firmware update, enabling rapid, near-term adoption. The system targets GPS vulnerability by defending against jamming and spoofing, branding Pulsar as an unhackable alternative. In June
28 June 2025
Everything You Never Knew You Needed to Know About Differential and Precise Point Positioning

Everything You Never Knew You Needed to Know About Differential and Precise Point Positioning

DGNSS improves GNSS accuracy by using stationary reference receivers to broadcast corrections to rovers, transforming standalone GPS accuracy from about 5–15 m to sub-meter or centimeter levels, with SBAS like WAAS (USA) and EGNOS (Europe) delivering about 1–3 m for aviation. Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) uses carrier-phase measurements and double-differencing to fix integer ambiguities, delivering centimeter-level accuracy in real time, with highest performance when the base is within about 10–20 km. Early differential GPS (DGPS) yielded about 1 meter accuracy within tens of kilometers of the base, with degradation of roughly 1 m per 150 km. Precise Point Positioning (PPP) provides
6 June 2025
Global Navigation Showdown: How GPS III, Galileo, BeiDou & GLONASS Upgrades Will Change How You Navigate

Global Navigation Showdown: How GPS III, Galileo, BeiDou & GLONASS Upgrades Will Change How You Navigate

GPS III, first launched in 2018, delivers three times the accuracy and eight times the anti-jamming performance of previous GPS generations, with a GPS III satellite named Katherine Johnson launched by SpaceX in 2025. GPS modernization includes the L1C common civil signal for interoperability with Galileo and a Next Generation OCX ground system to handle new signals and security. Galileo is planned as a 30-satellite constellation, with 27 in orbit by late 2024 and the full 30-satellite fleet expected by the end of 2025. Galileo’s HAS began in 2023, delivering about 20 cm horizontal and 40 cm vertical accuracy, while
6 June 2025
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