A US Defense Department research unit awarded a contract to develop an alternate global positioning system (GPS) using satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) that would operate independent of the present GPS, Northrop Grumman said on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2021) A US Defense Department research unit awarded a contract to develop an alternate global positioning system (GPS) using satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) that would operate independent of the present GPS, Northrop Grumman said on Thursday.
"Northrop Grumman's software-defined Positioning, Navigation and Timing technology will offer military users an agile new signal from LEO that is not dependent on existing satellite navigation systems," the company's Vice President for Emerging Capabilities Nicholas Paraskevopoulos said in a press release.
Northrop Grumman's LEO positioning and navigation is designed to let military forces to operate in degraded environments that deny access to existing systems, the release added.
The "phase 2 development" contract valued at $13.3 million was awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to the release.
DARPA is a Defense Department research unit with a history of developing futuristic technologies such as the present GPS system and the internet.
