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What’s New: A report (rumor?) that Amazon’s founder is thinking of getting into satnav.

Why It’s Important: 

• Certainly backing up and protecting GPS is important.
• It is a sign that some of the biggest and richest players are becoming aware of GPS vulnerability and are interested in “fixing” the problem.
• It is also a sign that these folks might be a bit naive when it comes to PNT issues.

What Else to Know: Some things for Mr. Bezos and his team to consider –

• There are already three other GNSS available, another possibly on the way (India), two or three LEO satnav companies in the U.S., more LEO satnav efforts in governments and companies around the world, and getting PNT as a by-product of a comms constellation is a solved problem. So, the value of yet another space-based effort is…?
• These kinds of projects really need to define “backup.” Are they just providing another signal to use for those who are jammed locally? Or will they provide PNT if GPS and other GNSS are completely off line?  If the later, then:
  • How would they survive whatever took out the GNSS?
  • And if the idea is to use a comms constellation, those typically use GNSS for time. So they will need their own independent precise time sources, which is another level of complexity and expense.
• User equipment can be a big cost and adoption challenge. Over the last 40 years GPS receivers have gone from a very expensive huge rack of equipment with two chairs in front of it to a microchip costing a couple dollars. New entrants are not going to benefit from high rate production efficiencies and such low SWAP-C.
• In our minds the biggest challenge to a commercial entity undertaking such a project is the business case. Who will be the customers, how much will they pay, and will it be worth the effort and expense?