GPS World

Tag: C-band PNT

  • TrustPoint secures USSF contract to demonstrate GPS-independent PNT

    TrustPoint has been awarded a $4 million Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract to demonstrate a GPS-independent positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system.

    The award was issued by SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the United States Space Force, and jointly funded by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Commercial Space Office (COMSO). It supports a full end-to-end demonstration of TrustPoint’s resilient navigation architecture designed for defense and commercial applications.

    Under the contract, TrustPoint will design, deploy and operate a fully integrated PNT system comprising four satellites and four ground stations, delivering a complete operational architecture. The program will execute an end-to-end system demonstration, including live trilateration across multiple space and ground assets, operational services and advanced receivers.

    With an accelerated execution timeline, initial system deployments will occur within 12 months, establishing a rapid deployment model designed to scale to significantly larger constellations while prioritizing affordability, operational relevance, and capital efficiency.

    “We founded TrustPoint on the belief that resilient navigation does not require billion-dollar constellations,” said Patrick Shannon, founder and CEO of TrustPoint. “This program will prove our technology’s GPS independence while demonstrating that real, operational PNT capability can be delivered with exceptional capital efficiency.”

    Beyond GPS-independent C-band demonstrations, the system will validate a software-defined architecture that supports on-demand reconfiguration of navigation services in contested, degraded and denied environments, pioneering commercial delivery of this capability. TrustPoint’s experience includes the first C-band GNSS signal transmission with real-time reception and the first broadcast-based ground-to-space C-band PNT demonstration.

    The program directly advances national security objectives. It also establishes a scalable foundation for future commercial services, redefining what is possible for users who require reliable PNT in GPS-challenged environments.

  • TrustPoint accelerates defense-grade, GPS-independent PNT with Phase II SBIR award

    TrustPoint accelerates defense-grade, GPS-independent PNT with Phase II SBIR award

    Contract strengthens the company’s growing portfolio of U.S. government-funded PNT initiatives

    TrustPoint has been awarded a  $1.9 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Direct-to-Phase II contract focused on adapting and upgrading TrustPoint’s commercial C-band positioning navigation and timing (PNT) payload to integrate with U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) architectures and meet advanced government requirements.

    The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Air Force, have partnered to streamline the SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business, and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by implementing process improvement changes in contract execution.

    The Air Force began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018, which expanded the range of funded innovations. Now, TrustPoint will accelerate its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the U.S.

    TrustPoint is developing a low size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) payload designed to address the U.S. Space Force’s growing need for tactically responsive and resilient space capabilities. The upgraded payload will bolster resistance to GPS jamming and spoofing, and expand the operational resilience of PNT in contested environments — an essential requirement for future proliferated space architectures and for the autonomous systems, including drones, that depend on trusted timing and navigation.

    The effort will culminate in laboratory testing in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), setting the stage for potential Phase III deployment opportunities.

    The award marks TrustPoint’s fifth Phase II SBIR in 18 months, spanning projects with the Air Force, Space Force and Navy, and adds to the company’s participation in government-funded PNT initiatives.