Fused PNT Performance Assessment from First to Second Generation User Terminal for an IRIS2 Constellation

Ottavio M. Picchi, Francesco Menzione, Francis Soualle, Jose A. del Peral-Rosado, Olivier Julie, Florian Binder, Andres M. Majorana, Juan Pablo Boyero

Abstract:	The deployment of broadband Low Earth Orbit (LEO)-based mega-constellations operating in the Ku and Ka frequency bands presents a unique opportunity to provide hosted Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services through a fused communication-navigation approach. This solution has the potential to offer complementary or backup navigation to legacy Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) services in the L band. In this paper, we will further look at the possibility to provide resilient Fused PNT services by exploiting the European Union Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS2 ). The idea, preliminary introduced in (Picchi, 2025), is here elaborated by assessing critical issues and detailed implementation aspects of the proposed Fused PNT approach. New scenarios are introduced to evaluate the Fused PNT performance in light of up-to-date information on the satellite communication infrastructure capabilities, and additional analyses are provided in order to assess the effect of User Terminal (UT) design. The work delivers a more comprehensive assessment, ranging from reduced navigation capabilities to complete standalone PNT. It assumes that initial access will rely solely on a limited modification of the native communication terminal (first-generation), progressing to second-generation user terminals supporting improved number of beams. The work envisioned that timing and coarse positioning services can be still deployed within the Fused paradigm considering limited complexity increase of the baseline communication terminal, restricted to the necessary digital blocks for tracking signals and the processing function needed to compute the navigation solution. Reduced burden on space infrastructure is also expected in terms of the orchestration of the resource allocation to support basics localization services. The analysis of second-generation user terminals confirms the potential to offer an additional positioning service in Ku and Ka bands also in dynamic conditions, enhancing the navigation resilience for a wide range of high-grade end-users facing GNSS outages.
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:	1305 - 1326
Cite this article:	Picchi, Ottavio M., Menzione, Francesco, Soualle, Francis, del Peral-Rosado, Jose A., Julie, Olivier, Binder, Florian, Majorana, Andres M., Boyero, Juan Pablo, "Fused PNT Performance Assessment from First to Second Generation User Terminal for an IRIS2 Constellation," Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025), Baltimore, Maryland, September 2025, pp. 1305-1326. https://doi.org/10.33012/2025.20412
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