Celebrating International GNSS Day

In a world where precise navigation is integral to our daily lives, NextNav recognizes the indispensable role that Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) play in shaping the modern world. GNSS provides positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) - underpinning so much of the critical infrastructure industries of the world, including telecommunications, financial transactions, utilities, emergency response, and even agriculture - to name a few. That's why we are pleased to celebrate "International GNSS Day", established by our friends at The Institute of Navigation (ION.) This day, celebrated annually on the 23rd of October, marks a significant milestone in GNSS history and serves as a tribute to the developers of GPS, celebrating 50 years since its inception this year.

The date, written as "10/23", symbolizes the frequency of 10.23 MHz, the original heartbeat of all GPS satellites, signals, and receivers, or "chipping rate". Each signal transmits at 511,500 chips per second (chip/s), but are multiplexed together to form a 1,023,000-chip/s signal - thus, the "10/23" date.

Here's a look at GNSS milestones:

1973: GPS Birth- The GPS project was started by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1973, with the first prototype spacecrafts launched in 1978 - initially for military use. It was invented here in the US.

1993: GPS Fully Operational- The Global Positioning System (GPS), initiated by the United States Department of Defense, became fully operational in 1993. It was a monumental moment in GNSS history, and the system now boasts a constellation of over 30 satellites providing worldwide coverage.

1995: GLONASS - The Russian Federation's GLONASS system, fully operational by 1995, stands as one of the most prominent GNSS alternatives to GPS. With its 24 satellites, it provides global coverage.

2016: Galileo Takes Flight - The European Union's Galileo system, which went live in 2016, has expanded the constellation to 30 satellites and is operated by the European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA), enhancing the world's GNSS capability.

2020: China's BeiDou - China's BeiDou system, launched in 2000, evolved into a global GNSS network by 2020, supporting positioning and timing services for a wide range of applications.

2023: Today the frequency of 10.23 MHz is the foundation for L-band signals used by over 100 navigation satellites worldwide.

While GPS and GNSS technologies are incredible achievements, it's essential to recognize that they were created 50 years ago. Our reliance on a consistent PNT solution cannot be understated. In a rapidly changing world, a resilient layer to GPS and GNSS, like NextNav's innovative spectrum solution that would enable a terrestrial PNT complement and backup to GPS, becomes crucial for our national safety, critical infrastructure, public safety and more, including our economy.

In a new economic report published on October 21, 2024, the Brattle Group finds the total quantified value of NextNav's plan for a terrestrial GPS backup is $14.6 billion, and the equivalent of a $10.8 billion insurance policy if GPS does dark.

ION's proclamation of this day fosters awareness and appreciation for the critical role GNSS plays in our interconnected world. As we commemorate this day, we encourage others to continue to share their knowledge and learnings about the role GNSS / GPS signals play in our lives, and inspire future innovations for PNT. At NextNav, we will continue to work to build upon this incredible technology to ensure PNT resiliency now and in the future.

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