Xona Space Systems has unveiled Pulsar Verified, a new certification program designed to ensure commercial receivers, chipsets, and test equipment are fully compatible with the company’s future Pulsar low Earth orbit positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) service. The initiative represents another major milestone as Xona moves from technology demonstrations toward a commercial navigation ecosystem.
Rather than waiting until its satellite constellation becomes operational, Xona is encouraging hardware manufacturers to certify products now so they will be ready to receive Pulsar signals as soon as the service becomes available.
First Partners Join Pulsar Verified
The initial group of certified partners includes several of the GNSS industry’s most recognized companies, including Trimble, Septentrio, STMicroelectronics, Safran, StarNav, and Keysight.
One of the more notable announcements is Trimble’s decision to extend Pulsar compatibility to products introduced as early as 2018, potentially allowing existing hardware to support the new navigation service through future updates instead of requiring entirely new receivers.
Septentrio, now part of Hexagon, is integrating Pulsar support into its next generation receiver portfolio, while Safran’s Skydel simulator and Keysight’s PNT X simulation platform have already achieved certification. These testing environments allow manufacturers to develop and validate Pulsar capable products long before the complete satellite constellation enters service.
According to Xona, certified equipment used in drones, autonomous robots, smartphones, industrial IoT devices, and other connected systems will be positioned for rapid deployment once commercial operations begin.
Pulsar 0 Continues In Orbit Validation
The certification program follows the successful first year of operations for Pulsar 0, Xona’s demonstration satellite.
During its first twelve months in orbit, the spacecraft completed more than 350 signal transmission passes across four continents while generating approximately 22 terabytes of observation data. Commercial receivers successfully tracked Pulsar signals from Finland to Australia, providing valuable performance data that supports development of the future constellation.
These results continue to validate the technical feasibility of using low Earth orbit satellites to complement conventional GNSS services.
Designed for Resilient Positioning
A key objective behind Pulsar is improving navigation performance in environments where conventional GNSS signals are vulnerable to interference.
Xona says live sky testing demonstrated that its higher power LEO signals remained usable in scenarios where traditional GNSS reception was disrupted by jamming. The company also estimates that its architecture could reduce the effective coverage area of a jammer by as much as 95%, an increasingly important capability as spoofing and jamming incidents continue to affect aviation, maritime operations, agriculture, critical infrastructure, and autonomous systems worldwide.
Rather than replacing GPS, Galileo, or other global navigation satellite systems, Pulsar is intended to strengthen positioning resilience by adding an additional independent signal layer from much lower orbital altitudes.
Building the Commercial Ecosystem
The certification announcement comes only months after Xona secured $170 million in Series C funding to accelerate deployment of its navigation network.
The company also opened a satellite integration and manufacturing facility in Burlingame, California, and continues preparing for deployment of its planned 258 satellite constellation. The first production satellites built in the United States are expected to launch later this year.
In addition, Xona recently expanded its commercial ecosystem through a memorandum of understanding with Murata Manufacturing to evaluate integration of Pulsar technology into communication modules, precision timing products, industrial electronics, financial infrastructure, and future 5G and 6G networks.
Industry Perspective
The launch of Pulsar Verified is arguably more significant than a typical certification announcement because it addresses one of the biggest barriers facing any new satellite navigation system: ecosystem readiness. A navigation constellation has little commercial value without compatible hardware already available in the market. By bringing receiver manufacturers, semiconductor suppliers, and simulator developers into the program years before full deployment, Xona is attempting to solve that challenge early. If adoption continues at this pace, Pulsar could become one of the first commercially viable LEO based navigation services with broad industry support before reaching full operational capability.
About Xona Space Systems
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Burlingame, California, Xona Space Systems is developing a commercial low Earth orbit navigation and timing network designed to complement existing GNSS constellations. The company plans to deploy 258 satellites, has raised approximately $170 million in funding, and focuses on delivering higher signal strength, improved positioning resilience, and reliable PNT services for autonomous vehicles, robotics, precision agriculture, industrial IoT, aviation, and critical infrastructure.
