Image: Iridium
What’s new After 3 years of work (and we are sure much expense) Iridium has developed a chip capable of receiving its timing signal.
Why it’s important:
- Iridium PNT is an independent source of time. NIST confirmed Iridium PNT as an accurate and reliable source for wide-area delivery of UTC. The service provides secure time and location signals from LEO that are resilient to regional outages of GNSS.
- Iridium signals can also provide full PNT for stationary and slow moving platforms. Estimated time to first fix is 1 to 5 minutes.
- A chip can be easily integrated into new GNSS and other PNT receivers. Doing so will make receivers much less susceptible, perhaps nearly immune, to spoofing.
- There is a huge need for receivers that are more resilient.
What else to know:
- China’s commercial LEO PNT efforts are coming on strong (see our recent report). Iridium still leads them, though, with 66 satellites broadcasting and now this ASIC.
- Academic and other organizations have told us they are eager to obtain, examine, and “play with” an Iridium ASIC.
- We are hoping to see reactions from receiver manufacturers and announcements about plans to incorporate this chip in future receivers. While discussions underway are proprietary, we understand the first new generation receivers should be on sale by 2026.
Iridium Moves Resilience Into Silicon
By Inside GNSS
Editor’s Note: Inside GNSS recently sat down with technical and executive experts from Iridium following the launch of the company’s new PNT ASIC.
This milestone interview provided first-hand insight into the rationale, engineering process, and industry impact of embedding authenticated positioning and timing directly in silicon. By engaging with Iridium’s team immediately after their announcement, Inside GNSS was able to explore not only the technical foundations but also the architectural philosophy behind a device-level resilience paradigm—highlighting how the new ASIC transforms authentication from a bolt-on solution into an integral building block for future GNSS-dependent systems. Crucially, the conversation also details the ASIC’s role as a standalone solution: when GNSS signals are unavailable or denied, Iridium PNT provides an independent, continuously available source of trusted time and position, suitable for deployment in challenging or adversarial environments.
