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What’s new: An excellent Inside GNSS article by oneNav’s Paul McBurney discussing the many advantages of the L5 civil signal.
Why it’s important:
- The signals are available now (and have been for years), but Space Force has them set “unhealthy” awaiting implementation of the new, OCX GPS ground segment/control system.
- OCX was originally scheduled to be operational in 2018, but has suffered from a series of delays and huge cost over-runs.
What else to know:
- In the below article, Paul says he is hopeful L5 will be set healthy this year. Unfortunately OCX has been delayed again with a new estimate of delivery in 2026.
- After OCX is delivered and accepted, it will not become operational immediately. Space Force personnel will have to have to train on how it works, ensure their procedures and processes are adapted to the new capability, etc. This could take more than a year.
The kicker:
- Space Force says they need OCX to be able to monitor the L5 signal and ensure its health. Yet there are other government sources that could be used to monitor signal health before OCX is fully operational.
- Using those other sources would require Space Force to establish an agreement and work with another government entity. That has not yet become a priority.
L5: Helping Build More Resilient PNT
Why now is the time for solutions like L5-direct™ Assured-PNT from oneNav to anchor a more robust system.
We at oneNav have been working for more than five years to develop the first commercially viable L5-direct GNSS receiver, which is now implemented in both FPGA and ASIC silicon. Unlike current
L1/L5 GNSS receivers that tend to support L5 as minimally as possible, oneNav fully implements L5-direct search and track capabilities to ensure maximum resilience to jamming and spoofing.
