MILAN — Japanese startup ArkEdge Space won a contract from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA to study the feasibility of establishing a constellation of position, navigation and timing satellites in low-Earth orbit.
The project, announced Oct. 17 at the International Astronautical Congress here, is aimed at providing high-precision, global PNT signals. ArkEdge declined to comment on the value of the JAXA contract.
Government agencies around the world are exploring ways to augment and back-up the Global Positioning System and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems that are susceptible to natural and deliberate interference. In addition, self-driving cars and autonomous drones require extremely precise location data.
Under the new JAXA contract, ArkEdge Space will provide a conceptual design for a LEO-PNT satellite and its orbit. ArkEdge also will explore satellite and constellation tradeoffs, and consider signal formats and frequency bands.
With a new LEO-PNT constellation, JAXA seeks to expand the coverage area of service currently provided by Japan’s geostationary Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) satellites.
Under another JAXA contract, ArkEdge is developing positioning and communications services for cislunar space.
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