Demonstration of a Xona Space Systems Pulsar X1 Positioning and Timing Receiver

Joshua J. Morales, Kathryn Hammar, and Christian T. Ardito

Abstract:	A reconfigurable receiver called SNDR-X that solves for position and time from new and emerging low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals has been developed. The receiver is used to demonstrate acquisition, tracking, positioning, and timing using Xona Space Systems Pulsar X1 signals from a cold start in real time. Simulated radio frequency (RF) Pulsar X1 signals are fed to the receiver during four different scenarios: (i) stationary mid-latitude, (ii) stationary high latitude, (iii) using aircraft dynamics, and (iv) stationary with injected Global Positioning System (GPS) L1 jamming. The resulting number of available satellites, the dilutions of precisions (DOPs), and position error statistics are studied for each scenario. It was found that Pulsar X1 signals can support sub-meter level horizontal positioning accuracies and offer jamming resistance to a blended GPS L1 and Pulsar X1 solution. A live-sky test was conducted with Xona’s Pulsar-0 demonstration satellite. Pseudorange, Doppler measurements, and the carrier-to-noise ratio were produced in real time using Pulsar-0. The observed carrier-to-noise ratio of the Pulsar X1 signal was 12 to 22 dB higher compared to the GPS L1 signals that were tracked during the experiment.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025) September 8 - 12, 2025 Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor Baltimore, Maryland
Pages:	1189 - 1199
Cite this article:	Morales, Joshua J., Hammar, Kathryn, Ardito, Christian T., "Demonstration of a Xona Space Systems Pulsar X1 Positioning and Timing Receiver," Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025), Baltimore, Maryland, September 2025, pp. 1189-1199. https://doi.org/10.33012/2025.20373
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