SpacePNT and D-Orbit have completed their integration testing of SpacePNT’s NaviLEO™ GNSS receiver technology that is onboard the ION Orbital Transfer Vehicle (ION SCV011) that is scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in June of 2023.
NaviLEO™ is a low-cost, high performance, multi-GNSS, multi-frequency receiver, product platform developed by SpacePNT in Switzerland to address the specific requirements of the New Space market and bridges the gap between low-end and high-end GNSS space receiver solutions. NaviLEO™ offers a high performance, autonomous, state-of-the- art, Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solution at an affordable price for single spacecraft and satellites as well as large satellite constellations.
Taking advantage of carefully selected rad-tolerant components and a rad-tolerant design architecture, NaviLEO supports multiple GNSS constellations and various signal frequencies and is fully, in-flight reprogrammable. Its advanced acquisition and tracking channels run on a state-of-the-art, FPGA and provide high sensitivity and short time to first fix, while its on- board orbital propagator provides robust performance and improved availability.
Thanks to the significant experience of SpacePNT’s team with previous GNSS receiver developments, NaviLEO™ has been conceived as a flexible and scalable platform that can support several configuration options to cover a wide range of missions, from LEO (the present payload configuration) to GEO (with dual antenna inputs), and even to the Moon (thanks to super-high-sensitivity). NavLEO™ provides autonomous and real-time positioning and timing accuracies that range from <10 cm 3D rms in LEO orbits (thanks to its optional POD algorithm) to <100 m 3D rms in cislunar orbits.
About the company
SpacePNT is an innovative, low-cost GPS/Galileo/GNSS receiver maker for the fast-growing New Space satellite market, delivering disruptive decimeter-level positioning and nanosecond-level timing accuracy through its unique and proprietary radiation tolerant Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) hardware and software technology. Its core team comes from the Swiss EPFL, ranked 14th in the world, where it has pioneered the development of high sensitivity GNSS for Moon missions, participating in many proof-of-concept studies. SpacePNT’s product family includes NaviLEO, NaviGEO, NaviMoon, and SimORBIT, that address the most stringent needs and challenges of the space market, enabling novel applications for space and Earth users by providing autonomous and real-time high-accuracy PNT information for the most demanding applications, such as Earth observation, remote sensing, in-orbit servicing, launchers, space transportation, space debris removal, SIGINT, LEO PNT services (GNSS backup from LEO), or even for Moon missions.