Xona Space Systems, a California startup building a commercial alternative to GPS, will send six satellites into orbit on a SpaceX rocket this month, the first step toward a beta version of its navigation service, Pulsar, TechCrunch reported Friday. Once in orbit, the satellites will let early customers start testing the signal.

What Happened

Four of the six spacecraft resemble the prototype Xona launched last year to prove its technology and are built on a satellite platform from Aerospace Labs. The other two were built entirely by Xona at its headquarters in Burlingame, California, and are the design the company plans to use for the operational constellation, according to TechCrunch.

That constellation, Pulsar, is planned at 258 satellites in low Earth orbit. During the beta phase, the small initial group will pass over mid-latitude regions about eight times a day, giving test users periodic windows of service rather than continuous coverage. Xona is aiming for full coverage of the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea in 2028.

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Electronic timing specialist TimeBeat is among the first pilot participants and plans to use the signal to verify the timing of devices around the world.

Why It Matters

Satellite navigation underpins far more than maps on phones. Power grids, telecom networks and financial systems depend on the precise timing signals that GPS and similar government-run systems provide, and jamming and spoofing of those signals have become increasingly common in conflict zones.

Xona's pitch is that a commercial layer in low orbit can do better on several fronts. The company says Pulsar will deliver centimeter-level precision, compared with meter-level accuracy for GPS, and that its signal will be detectable inside buildings and among tall city structures where GPS often struggles. Satellites in low orbit are much closer to the ground than GPS satellites, and Xona argues its signal is strong enough to deter jammers and spoofers.

Adoption may also be easier than for a new navigation standard. According to TechCrunch, existing GPS receivers can pick up the Pulsar signal after a software modification, rather than requiring new hardware.

The Business Case

CEO Brian Manning told TechCrunch that his first reaction to the idea of replacing a free government service was skeptical. His argument now is that billions of devices are sold every year, and some of them need better performance than free GPS delivers. Xona sees autonomous vehicles and aviation as key markets. Chief technology officer Tyler Reid, who wrote his doctoral thesis on improving navigation from low Earth orbit, previously worked on self-driving cars at Ford.

Five Stanford aerospace engineering graduates founded the company in 2019. It has raised more than $300 million from venture investors and $20 million from the U.S. Space Force, TechCrunch reported.

What to Watch

The near-term test is whether the six satellites reach orbit and perform as designed, and how quickly beta users such as TimeBeat report results. Xona has not disclosed pricing. Building out 258 satellites by its 2028 regional coverage target will require a steady cadence of launches over the next two years.