VectorNav Technologies announced June 2 expanded support for Low Earth Orbit satellite signals as an aiding source for its inertial navigation systems, with the capability now available as a development kit centered on the VN-210E GNSS-Aided INS and broader support available across the Tactical Series upon request.
The release enables integration of Iridium Satellite Time and Location signals directly into VectorNav’s INS architecture alongside inertial and GNSS data. In testing, STL-aided navigation demonstrated positioning performance within approximately 50 meters CEP in GNSS-denied conditions while maintaining continuous inertial position, velocity, and attitude outputs. The Iridium constellation’s 66 active satellites operate at roughly 780 kilometers — compared to approximately 20,000 kilometers for GPS — producing surface signals up to 1,000 times stronger than GPS, improving resistance to jamming, attenuation, and environmental obstruction.
The VN-210E provides four independent serial interfaces and a tightly coupled extended Kalman filter, allowing LEO-derived measurements to be incorporated alongside GNSS, M-Code, vision-based navigation, and other assured PNT inputs. The development kit includes the VN-210E, NAL Technologies’ ALTM Micro-D receiver, a one-year Iridium development license, and reference integration guidance and software tools.
“Inertial remains the foundation,” said Andrew Greer, Senior Director of Business Development at VectorNav. “LEO signals add another layer of resilience. By fusing multiple independent sources, we maintain a stable navigation solution when any single input is degraded or denied.”
Future development will focus on deeper hardware integration, reduced SWaP-C, and streamlined deployment for production programs.
