SpacePNT SA has completed their on-orbit validation tests of the firm’s NaviLEO™ spaceborne GNSS receiver product platform that is designed to deliver dm-level positioning and ns timing accuracy in LEO and the highest signal reception sensitivity for GTO/GEO/Moon missions — all in real-time through proprietary hardware and software tech.
After the successful deployment in LEO onboard the hosting Orbital Transfer Vehicle (D-Orbit ION OTV SCV-011 satellite) on June 13, 2023, a series of experiments were conducted to successfully validate the key functionalities of the radiation tolerant technology, demonstrating multiple modes of operation (including dual-antenna) and full in-flight reprogramming (FPGA image and application software).
“Having successfully completed these in-orbit tests is a significant milestone for the company in achieving flight heritage and validating our products towards future missions, as well as to derisk the technology to serve additional markets,” said SpacePNT co-founder and CEO, Cyril Botteron. “This on-orbit technology demonstration, carried out within an ESA ARTES project, served two purposes: on one hand it validated the technology towards future LEO and Moon missions for which flight models have already been delivered to commercial and institutional partners; on the other hand, it derisked SpacePNT’s product development roadmap. In fact, the upcoming second-generation hardware platform reuses the same key radiation tolerant electronics components, repacked to enable a more cost-effective larger-scale manufacturing (targeting large telecom constellations) and it implements new functions to serve additional markets, for instance as Software Defined Radio platform for telecom and radar applications.”
About NaviLEO
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 to GEO (with dual antenna inputs), and even up to the Moon (thanks to its super-high-sensitivity), providing autonomously and in real-time positioning and timing accuracies ranging from <10 cm 3D rms in LEO (with embedded Precise Orbit Determination algorithm) to <100 m 3D rms in cislunar orbits. Leveraging radiation tolerant components and advanced hardware/software radiation effects mitigation techniques, the product addresses the specific requirements of the New Space market, bridging the gap between today’s low-end and high-end GNSS space receiver solutions. It currently supports two constellations (GPS, Galileo) and multiple signals (L1, E1, L5, E5, E6), and is fully reprogrammable in-flight. Its advanced acquisition and tracking channels running on a state-of-the-art FPGA provide very high sensitivity and short time to first fix, while its on-board orbital propagator provides robust performance and improved availability.
About SpacePNT
SpacePNT SA, established in 2020 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is an innovative PNT solution provider. Its current range of products include both software solutions (SimORBIT, an advanced orbit propagation tool enabling the computation of high accuracy LEO trajectories) and hardware receiver solutions (NaviLEO, NaviMoon, NaviGEO). The company works as an agile company, with a permanent core of talented people with many years of experience in their respective domains that have entirely developed its hardware and software technological platform. It is supported for its technology and product developments by ESA, Swiss Space Office, and Swiss business angel investors.