Move over, GPS: Navigation satellites in low-Earth orbit are making a comeback

To replicate the performance of GPS, a satellite navigation system in low-Earth orbit would need about 10 times more satellites than a similar satellite constellation in medium-Earth orbit, Kassas explained. But as the recent rise of Xona and other competitors shows, lower manufacturing and launch costs have made it possible to build and launch such a satellite constellation dedicated to delivering PNT services from low-Earth orbit.

Tim Graham is leading satellite development across hardware, software, and propulsion at Xona Space Systems.

Credit: Xona Space Systems

Building and launching the satellite fleet

Xona has contracted with Aerospacelab, a satellite manufacturer in Belgium, to build some of the first satellites that will carry Xona’s PNT payloads into orbit. But the company is focused on developing its own in-house satellite bus to manufacture most of the planned 258 Pulsar satellites at the company’s factory in Burlingame, California.

“Our first hire on this internal satellite team was a little over a year ago, and seeing what the team has accomplished to date is incredibly impressive,” Perkins said. “Being able to bring in folks that have that experience can help us derive from what the first version looks like to how we continue to streamline that.”

One of Xona’s latest notable hires, Tim Graham, worked on engineering challenges at SpaceX for a decade, eventually becoming the engineering manager for avionics on the Raptor engines that propel SpaceX’s Starship rocket. But he saw an opportunity to lend his expertise and experience in scaling up hardware production to Xona and joined the company earlier this year to lead satellite development across hardware, software, and propulsion.

“If you look at the historical impact of major technological developments, GPS is up there as world-changing,” Graham told Ars. “Bringing a more modern design for a modern technology GPS system to the world is a pretty exciting mission.”

Graham also appreciated joining a company headed by Xona co-founder and CEO Brian Manning, who previously worked as a SpaceX engineer on redesigning components of the Falcon 9 rocket’s thrust structure. “SpaceX people have kind of been through the grinder together, and so it was a good match,” Graham said.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/move-over-gps-navigation-satellites-in-low-earth-orbit-are-making-a-comeback/