May 30, 2023: SpacePNT and D-Orbit completes integration testing of SpacePNT’s unique NaviLEO GNSS receiver technology onboard ION Orbital Transfer Vehicle (ION SCV011) that is scheduled to be launched from California Vandenberg Space Force Base this month of June 2023.
NaviLEO is a low-cost, high performance multi-GNSS multi-frequency receiver product platform that has been developed by SpacePNT in Switzerland to address the specific requirements of the New Space market, bridging the gap between today’s low-end and high-end GNSS space receiver solutions, offering a high performance, autonomous, state-of-the-art Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solution at an affordable price for single spacecraft & satellite or 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 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.
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 antennas 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 orbits (thanks to its optional POD algorithm) to <100 m 3D rms in cislunar orbits.
Photo credit: D-Orbit