GPS backup: US approves world’s first private constellation to strengthen navigation

California-based Xona announced on August 4 that the US Federal Communications Commission has authorized its full low Earth orbit satellite constellation to transmit the world’s first commercial navigation signal alongside GPS. The approval arrives ahead of the company’s planned October launch of its first six production satellites. Xona is expanding satellite manufacturing at its Burlingame facility to deploy the Pulsar system for devices and infrastructure that need stronger, more secure positioning services. The network is intended to improve navigation resilience by delivering signals up to 100 times stronger than GPS while remaining compatible with existing hardware. The FCC decision extends an earlier license issued for Pulsar-0, Xona’s final demonstration satellite. That spacecraft became the first commercial satellite permitted to transmit radionavigation signals in the L-band spectrum used alongside GPS. The expanded authorization covers Xona’s planned production constellation rather than a single test mission. It also positions the company as the only FCC-authorized private navigation constellation designed to operate beside government-run systems from the United States, Europe, China, and Russia. “From the beginning, we were told that what we wanted to do was impossible,” said Brian Manning, Co-Founder and CEO of Xona. “A commercial company had never built a system like Pulsar, and no one had been authorized to introduce a new, high-power navigation signal alongside GPS. This decision is the culmination of years of engineering, testing, and coordination, clearing the way for a capability the world increasingly needs,” he added. Stronger signals without new receivers Pulsar was engineered for the established L-band rather than a less widely used navigation frequency. More than six billion Global Navigation Satellite System-enabled devices already rely on this portion of the spectrum, giving Xona a path to support existing receivers through software or firmware updates. Its proprietary signal incorporates a dynamic cryptographic watermark intended to protect users against spoofing. However, transmitting at higher power near GPS required Xona to show regulators that Pulsar would not disrupt existing navigation or aviation services. The company coordinated testing with the FCC, other US agencies, aviation stakeholders, and foreign governments. This process assessed signal performance, interference risks, and coexistence with critical systems supporting aviation, emergency response, communications, and financial markets. Orbit tests support deployment Pulsar-0 has completed more than 350 transmission passes across four continents since its June 2025 launch. More than a dozen commercial receivers have independently tracked its live signals, while tests have demonstrated operation with existing GNSS hardware in real-world environments. “Making room for something new required us to demonstrate that we understood the importance of what was already there,” said Christina Youn, General Counsel and Vice President of External Affairs at Xona. “GPS supports aviation, communications, emergency response, financial markets and countless systems people rely on every day. We did not ask regulators or the industry to take our claims on faith,” she continued. “We designed for coexistence, subjected that design to rigorous scrutiny, and then proved it through live transmissions from orbit,” Youn added. With regulatory clearance secured, Xona can move from orbital demonstration toward deployment.Recommended ArticlesGet the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Atharva is a full-time content writer with a post-graduate degree in media & amp; entertainment and a graduate degree in electronics & telecommunications. He has written in the sports and technology domains respectively. In his leisure time, Atharva loves learning about digital marketing and watching soccer matches. His main goal behind joining Interesting Engineering is to learn more about how the recent technological advancements are helping human beings on both societal and individual levels in their daily lives.