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Move over, GPS: Navigation satellites in low-Earth orbit are making a comeback
Xona Space Systems, a California firm, is preparing to launch the first six production satellites of a new low-Earth-orbit (LEO) navigation network, with satellites launching in October 2026 and early service starting in 2027. Unlike GPS and similar systems, which orbit at much higher altitudes, these Pulsar satellites promise signals up to 100 times stronger, offering far greater accuracy in cities, under foliage and indoors, while also being more resistant to the jamming and spoofing that increasingly disrupts aviation, shipping and smartphone navigation.
Xona's first satellite, Pulsar-0, launched in July 2025 and has already taken part in live jamming tests that reportedly cut a jammer's effective range by 95 percent, alongside trials of an anti-spoofing watermark and software updates that improved positioning accuracy to 1.5 centimetres. Once the full 258-satellite constellation is complete, the company says users could pinpoint locations to within several centimetres and access timing signals accurate to 10 nanoseconds, achieved more cheaply than GPS's atomic clocks via software-based methods. Early adopters are expected to be organisations needing the highest levels of precision and resilience, such as defence, government and financial or telecoms firms, with broader urban coverage arriving once around 16 satellites are in orbit.
In short
- Xona plans a stronger, LEO-based rival to GPS navigation
- First six production satellites launch October 2026, service from 2027
- Promises centimetre-level accuracy and stronger resistance to jamming
Explained simply
Navigation has long relied on satellites orbiting high above Earth, such as the GPS system used in most smartphones and vehicles. A California-based company called Xona Space Systems is now launching satellites that orbit much closer to Earth, which transmit significantly stronger signals and are far harder to disrupt or jam.
The closer orbital position means these satellites can send signals powerful enough to reach indoors and through forests, with greater accuracy than existing systems. Traditional navigation satellites are vulnerable to interference attacks and false signals; the new network is engineered to resist such disruptions whilst delivering position data accurate to within centimetres rather than metres.
Initially, organisations needing extreme precision and security—such as defence agencies, banks and telecommunications companies—are expected to be the early adopters. As the constellation of satellites expands over the coming years, coverage will improve and the technology may eventually have broader applications.