Xona Pulsar satellites set to launch a GPS alternative

Xona Space Systems will launch six Pulsar navigation satellites on a SpaceX rocket later this month, the first step toward a commercial alternative to GPS. The California startup says its signals will be accurate to centimeters, compared with meters for GPS, and strong enough to work indoors, TechCrunch reports. Existing GPS receivers can pick them up with a relatively simple software change. That matters for anything that depends on location or precise timing.

What is launching

The six satellites fly on SpaceX's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission this month, Payload reports. Four of them resemble a prototype Xona launched last year and use a satellite platform from Aerospacelab. The other two were built entirely by Xona at its headquarters in Burlingame, California, TechCrunch says. TechCrunch describes those two as the foundation of the full Pulsar constellation, which is planned at 258 satellites.

Xona's prototype has already been tested in orbit. It completed more than 350 transmission passes, Via Satellite reported in August.

When service starts

Service will arrive in stages. Once the satellites are in orbit, they will pass over mid-latitudes about eight times a day, and beta testing with real customers can begin, according to TechCrunch. Payload says initial operations are set for early 2027. Xona is aiming for full coverage of the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea by 2028.

One early customer is already lined up. TimeBeat, a timing company led by chief executive Ian Gough, is running a pilot to check and correct the clocks on its devices around the world, TechCrunch reports.

What Xona claims

Xona's case rests on three claims, all its own:

Claim	Detail	Reported by
Accuracy	Centimeter-level, versus meter-level for GPS	TechCrunch
Signal strength	Up to 100 times stronger than GPS, detectable inside buildings	Via Satellite, TechCrunch
Spoofing protection	A dynamic cryptographic watermark on the signal	Via Satellite

Spoofing means faking a navigation signal to trick a receiver about where it is. Jamming means drowning the signal out. Chief executive Brian Manning says Pulsar's signal is strong enough to deter both, according to TechCrunch.

The signals sit in the L-band, next to the frequencies GPS uses. The Federal Communications Commission authorized Xona to broadcast from its full constellation, which Xona announced on August 3, Via Satellite reported.

Manning sees a business in what most people treat as free. "People think of GPS as a free service, but the market isn't the service," he told TechCrunch. "There's an immense market that is desperately looking for better performance."

Money and manufacturing

Xona has raised just over $300 million from investors since its founding in 2019, including $20 million from the U.S. Space Force, TechCrunch reports.

It is now scaling up production. Four more satellites are being built in Burlingame to a design about 10% lighter, Payload reports. Xona is also adding 35,000 square feet of manufacturing and operations space in Montreal. It aims to build several satellites a week by the end of 2027. To run that work, it hired Patrick Cadariu, who spent nearly a decade in operations at Waymo, as chief operating officer.

"With a product like a navigation service, you can't scale at the expense of performance or operational resilience," Cadariu told Payload.

What this means for developers

• Plan for a second navigation source. If your product depends on location or timing, a backup signal that resists jamming could cut outages. Watch for receiver updates that add Pulsar support.
• Ask your chip and module vendors. Xona says existing receivers need only a software change. Find out whether yours can take that update.
• Treat the accuracy figures as claims. Centimeter-level accuracy and a 100-times-stronger signal are Xona's numbers. Wait for beta results before you design around them.
• Expect partial coverage at first. Early service will be patchy, with satellites passing a few times a day. Timing uses, like TimeBeat's pilot, are where testing starts.
• Budget for a paid service. Unlike GPS, Pulsar is a commercial product. None of the reports give pricing yet.

The launch itself is the next milestone. Then come the first beta results from paying customers.