Astranis completed a key demo ahead of schedule as part of a contract to make the Space Force’s GPS capabilities more resilient.
Out of the box: During the demo under the military’s Resilient Global Positioning System (R-GPS) program, the San Francisco-based startup leveraged its existing software-defined radio payload to generate, transmit, and recover core GPS waveforms—the same navigational signals that our cell phones are designed to receive—using an off-the-shelf GPS receiver.
“We have shown that our satellites will be fully compatible with legacy GPS receivers,” Astranis CEO John Gedmark told Payload.
This compatibility means Astranis can equip standard hardware built for its mass-manufactured satellites with custom software, Gedmark said, which enables the Space Force to deploy new R-GPS satellites without the need for multi-billion-dollar replacements or upgrades to existing user equipment and chips.
Zoom out: The Space Force is moving swiftly to reduce the dependency on its 31-satellite GPS constellation by adding a fleet of smaller, low-cost satellites that would provide alternative data for military and civilian users if threats such as jamming and spoofing interfere with the GPS signal.
The Space Force awarded four companies, including Astranis, contracts last year to develop R-GPS design concepts for small, cost-effective GPS satellites based on commercial designs.
- Sierra Space announced last month it had cleared the systems requirements review.
- L3Harris said in January that it is working on its design concept for Phase 0 of the program.
- Astrion was recently dropped after its initial design review didn’t make the cut.
Up next: The Space Force plans to purchase and deploy R-GPS satellites in sets of eight from one or more of the remaining trio, with the first batch expected to launch by 2028.
“We can move even faster than that,” said Gedmark. “We’re standing by, and ready to build.”
