Xona raises $170 million for satellite navigation network
The company is scaling up production as it looks to build a 258-satellite network to provide positioning, navigation and timing services
https://spacenews.com/xona-raises-170-million-for-satellite-navigation-network/

WASHINGTON — Xona, a California-based startup developing a satellite navigation service, announced March 26 it raised $170 million in a Series C funding round to accelerate deployment of its low-Earth orbit constellation and expand manufacturing capacity.

The round was led by Mohari Ventures Natural Capital, with participation from Craft Ventures, ICONIQ, Woven Capital, NGP Capital, Samsung Next and Hexagon, among others. The company said the capital will support production at a new factory in Burlingame, California, as well as broader constellation buildout.

Xona is building a commercial positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) service, known as Pulsar, designed to operate as an alternative or backup to the Global Positioning System. GPS underpins navigation and timing for both military and civilian systems but has shown vulnerabilities to jamming, spoofing and disruption, particularly in contested environments.

Xona’s satellites will operate in low Earth orbit, broadcasting signals that are stronger than those from GPS satellites in higher orbits. Pulsar is designed to work with existing GPS devices, a shift enabled by Xona’s decision to move from C-band to L-band frequencies after determining that most users lack compatible C-band equipment.

“Compatibility with existing user equipment was critical to scaling,” said Brian Manning, co-founder and chief executive.

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