US defence contractor CACI International will launch two demonstration payloads on a York Space built satellite as part of an experiment in military use of space technologies. The satellite will be placed into a low Earth obit (LEO) in January 2023 and carried by the SpaceX Transporter 7 rideshare rocket.
The experiments, financed by CACI, will include an alternative PNT [positioning, navigation and timing] solution to GPS navigation dubbed a two-way time transfer in which the satellite transmits a timing signal which is re-transmitted back to the satellite from a ground or aircraft based receiver.
According to SpaceNews CACI president and CEO John Mengucci admitted that the system “won’t completely replace GPS, but,” he continued, “it will support systems out there when GPS signals are jammed or when they’re attacked”.
CACI International is funding the satellite, which is scheduled to launch in January.
