EnduroSat US Wins Contract to Build 40 GNSS Satellites for TrustPoint

EnduroSat US has secured a contract from TrustPoint to build 40 satellites for the company’s GPS-independent positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) constellation.

The satellites will be delivered in three tranches as TrustPoint moves from its existing on-orbit demonstrations toward larger-scale constellation deployment.

The agreement will see EnduroSat provide its commercial satellite bus and manufacturing capabilities for TrustPoint’s C-band GNSS system, which is being developed to provide an alternative PNT capability for commercial and national security users operating in contested, degraded or denied environments.

TrustPoint has already launched and operated three free-flying satellites carrying its C-band GNSS payload.

The three-tranche production plan is intended to allow TrustPoint to progressively add capacity while incorporating lessons from each batch into subsequent spacecraft.

EnduroSat, which has supplied satellites to customers including NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency - ESA as well as commercial and research organizations, will provide the production capacity needed to scale the constellation.

EnduroSat CEO and Founder Raycho Raychev said the company views resilient PNT as critical infrastructure and sees the partnership as an opportunity to support the rapid expansion of an independent navigation system.

TrustPoint executives Bill Vincent and Patrick Shannon similarly emphasized EnduroSat’s production speed and scale as important to meeting growing demand for resilient PNT services.

The contract expands on TrustPoint’s existing technology demonstrations, including live-sky C-band GNSS transmission and reception, a ground-to-space PNT demonstration and the operation of three commercial satellites.

TrustPoint has also demonstrated its signals through GNSS interference using a receiver platform from Hexagon and is developing additional capabilities under contracts with the U.S. Space Force, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy.

Image Credits: EnduroSat