Neuchâtel, December 08, 2025: SpacePNT is excited to announce it has obtained, less than one-year after contract signature with the payload prime contractor and following some major reviews (equipment qualification status review, system requirement review, engineering model manufacturing readiness review), the authorization to start manufacturing the ultra-precise GNSS receiver engineering model for the ESA GENESIS satellite mission.
GENESIS mission, targeting a 2028 launch, is managed by OHB Italia with Belgium’s Antwerp Space as the payload and geodetic instruments prime contractor. Flying at an altitude of 6000 km in a harsh radiation environment, its primary objective will be to contribute to a highly improved International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) of Earth with an accuracy of 1 mm and a long-term stability of 0.1 mm/year, thanks to the co-location onboard the satellite of four measurement techniques, including the NaviMEO GNSS receiver developed by SpacePNT.
Panagiotis Charlaftis, Project Manager at Antwerp Space: “Being the prime contractor for the payload of the GENESIS mission it is paramount to collaborate with companies who can adapt to challenges, deliver excellent quality and be an integral part of an important mission . At Antwerp Space, we are extremely satisfied with the quality of work and the professionalism demonstrated by SpacePNT throughout the development phase of the GNSS receiver for the GENESIS mission. Their technical expertise, responsiveness, and commitment to meeting challenging requirements have been outstanding. The GNSS receiver is a critical component for pushing the boundaries of geodetic science and delivering truly state-of-the-art capabilities. SpacePNT’s ability to provide a mature, high-performance solution within such a demanding schedule gives us full confidence as we move into the next phase of the project.”
NaviMEO GENESIS receiver is derived from SpacePNT’s second-generation NaviLEO hardware platform. This is the result of more than a decade of research and industrial experience in high-accuracy and high-sensitivity GNSS processing carried out by SpacePNT’s engineering team that has developed a product line of radiation tolerant spaceborne receivers optimized for demanding orbital environments, ranging from LEO to cislunar orbits. For GENESIS, the receiver has been enhanced with a third frequency (L2 added to the existing L1/E1 and L5/E5a) and two independent antenna inputs, providing a total of 64 tracking channels capable of simultaneously tracking up to 16 satellites with four components each. The acquisition and tracking engines have been tuned to an intermediate-sensitivity regime, positioned between LEO-optimized and lunar-optimized implementations, to match the expected GENESIS signal environment. The real-time PVT solution generated by NaviMEO will serve as the platform’s primary reference for positioning and subsystem synchronisation.
Cyril Botteron, Co-founder and CEO at SpacePNT: “The whole Team at SpacePNT is extremely proud to contribute to this challenging mission dedicated to GNSS Science that will support satellite-based navigation systems and their downstream applications. Operating in a difficult radiation environment at 6000 km altitude, this is also the first mission that will benefit from the specific Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) approach the Team has devised within an ESA ARTES Competitive & Growth project to support long duration LEO/MEO/GEO/Moon missions.”
Preliminary hardware-in-the-loop testing with an engineering breadboard has confirmed that measurement noise aligns closely with theoretical predictions and demonstrates that NaviMEO is a mature solution capable to meet the stringent scientific and operational requirements of the GENESIS mission. Manufacturing and qualification of the proto flight model are scheduled for completion by the end of 2026.
Disclaimer: “The view expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency.”
Photo credit: ©ESA-P. Carril