Microchip Technology on Aug. 13 introduced the Space CSAC-SA65, a radiation-tolerant chip-scale atomic clock designed to bring atomic-clock timing accuracy to small, power-constrained satellite missions.

The company said the growing New Space market is driving demand for smaller, less expensive space hardware supporting short-duration missions in applications such as satellite-to-cellular communications, alternative navigation and Earth imaging. Built on the heritage of Microchip’s Space CSAC-SA45, the new device extends radiation tolerance to at least 30 kRad and operates across an extended temperature range of -40 degrees C to +80 degrees C. It consumes less than 120 mW and occupies under 17 cubic centimeters, with built-in 1 PPS input and output for satellite synchronization. The atomic stability lets systems maintain timing accuracy for extended periods without continuous reliance on GNSS signals.

Randy Brudzinski, corporate vice president of Microchip’s frequency and time systems business unit, said the device brings atomic-clock performance to size-, weight-, power- and cost-constrained applications, adding that “even the smallest CubeSat can now fly with atomic accuracy.”

COTS Manufacturing, LEO Applications

Manufactured as a commercial off-the-shelf product using radiation-tolerant commercial electronic components, the CSAC-SA65 is intended to offer shorter lead times and lower overall costs compared with traditional space-grade oscillators. Microchip is targeting the device at Low Earth Orbit missions, including satellite timing and frequency control, satellite clock reference, assured positioning, navigation and timing, and satellite cross-linking.

The company describes its original Space CSAC line as the industry’s first commercially available radiation-tolerant chip-scale atomic clock, and positions the SA65 generation as a further step in reducing size, weight and power for LEO applications spanning commercial, scientific and defense payloads. The device, part number 090-02789-007, is available now through Microchip’s sales and distribution network, supported by the company’s Clockstudio software for control and analysis of atomic clocks and a CSAC Developer Kit.

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Javad GNSS on Aug. 12 introduced a new GNSS+INS product line built to keep navigation systems operating when GPS signals are jammed, spoofed or denied.

The US-based receiver manufacturer built the line by pairing its multi-constellation GNSS receivers with commercial and defense-grade IMU modules through a purpose-built interface board, creating a turnkey navigation system for OEMs. The board manages the electrical connection, time synchronization and data path between the receiver and IMU, work integrators previously had to handle themselves when sourcing components separately, choosing instead between a sealed GNSS+INS box built around a single fixed inertial sensor or a fully custom integration effort.

A Configurable Inertial Choice

The inertial sensor remains a configurable choice rather than a fixed component, letting Javad match the IMU to a program’s grade, dynamic range and cost requirements without compromising the performance of the underlying GNSS unit. Current configurations support gyro dynamic ranges up to plus-or-minus 2,000 degrees per second, in-run gyro bias stability between 0.7 and 2 degrees per hour, and accelerometer ranges from plus-or-minus 8g to plus-or-minus 40g.

Gary Walker, executive vice president at Javad GNSS, said the configuration means integrators “can get GNSS performance and anti-jam protection” while still choosing the inertial sensor that fits their program.

Javad designs and manufactures its GNSS receivers in-house at its San Jose, California facility, building on the company’s proprietary TRIUMPH ASIC technology, which the company has marketed for its patented spoofing and jamming detection since introducing the chip’s high channel-count architecture roughly a decade ago. The GNSS+INS configuration is available now for evaluation and integration by qualified users.

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Infinite Electronics, a global platform of connectivity manufacturing companies, will debut a new lineup of Pasternack multi-constellation GNSS antennas with anti-jamming technology at Commercial UAV Expo 2026, taking place Sept. 1-3 in Las Vegas. The company says the antennas are designed to improve positioning, navigation and timing performance in increasingly congested RF environments.

Gorden Cook, president and general manager of the RF and Microwave Business Unit at Infinite Electronics, said reliable GNSS positioning has become increasingly important as UAV platforms are deployed in more demanding commercial, industrial and public safety applications, and that the new antennas are built to help customers maintain reliable positioning in challenging RF conditions.

Multi-Constellation Coverage With MIL-Grade Filtering

The antennas support GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS, NavIC and regional augmentation systems across the L1/E1/B1, L2 and L5/E5 frequency bands. Infinite Electronics says its interference mitigation technology suppresses low-elevation jamming sources and rejects adjacent-band interference, helping maintain receiver performance; the antennas are built to MIL-STD-810 standards for outdoor use in fixed, mobile and infrastructure-based systems.

The company positions the new line as an additional option for UAV manufacturers, integrators and operators looking to improve positioning reliability in crowded RF environments, expanding Pasternack’s broader portfolio of GNSS, RF and positioning solutions for autonomous and unmanned systems, mission-critical navigation, precision timing, transportation, public safety, critical infrastructure and geospatial applications.

At Commercial UAV Expo, attendees can visit the Infinite Electronics booth (Booth 849) to see the antennas alongside other connectivity products across the company’s brand portfolio, including RF and microwave components, rugged networking, surge protection and sealed power and signal connectivity from Pasternack, L-com, Transtector, PolyPhaser and Bulgin for UAV platforms, ground stations and mission-critical communications.

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Furuno Electric announced July 28 that it plans to release the RCB-100 GNSS timing receiver in November 2026, packaging carrier-grade time synchronization performance into a standard RCB form factor designed for simpler integration into low-volume equipment.

The receiver draws on technology developed for Furuno’s GT-100 GNSS module, which the company describes as having built an extensive track record of adoption in the base station and telecommunications infrastructure markets. The GT-100 supports dual-frequency reception on the L1 and L5 bands and achieves timing stability under 4.5 nanoseconds, using an anti-multipath algorithm developed with NTT called Dynamic Satellite Selection to minimize timing degradation in urban environments where GNSS antennas may be placed near windows or amid signal reflections. The module supports GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS and SBAS constellations and can automatically mitigate jamming while notifying users in real time of the interfering signal’s frequency and strength.

Carrier-Grade Performance Without Custom RF Design

The RCB-100 delivers that same nanosecond-level accuracy and interference resilience in a format that eliminates the need for dedicated RF circuit design or PCB-level module mounting. Instead of soldering and reflow assembly, the unit installs with screws and a mating connector, and uses a standard SMB antenna connector to minimize RF line design work.

Furuno said the design addresses a persistent barrier for equipment manufacturers: the higher the required GNSS performance, the greater the engineering overhead required for integration, a challenge particularly acute for low-volume products where a custom design is not cost-effective. Target applications for the RCB-100 include telecommunications base stations, time servers, data center systems, financial trading systems, power grid infrastructure and broadcasting equipment, sectors where precise time synchronization underpins critical operations. The company said it will extend the trust established through GT-100 to a wider range of equipment and applications for critical infrastructure through a broader product lineup designed to accommodate customers’ implementation environments.

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The trial, conducted in June 2026 across multiple UK sites with support from QinetiQ, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and the Royal Navy experimentation vessel XV Patrick Blackett, paired Saab’s Giraffe 1X radar with Aquark’s AQlock cold-atom quantum clock. Multiple radars operating at separate locations tracked live targets while relying solely on independent AQlock timing references rather than GPS.

Distributed radar networks depend on timing precision to within billionths of a second to fuse tracking data from separated sensors into a single accurate picture; an error in timing translates directly into an error in target position. GNSS normally supplies that reference, but its signals are vulnerable to jamming and spoofing in contested environments.

To test resilience, the team introduced controlled timing errors simulating GNSS spoofing and denial. According to Saab, the radars continued generating a single air picture throughout, showing predictable performance degradation during the disruption and rapid recovery once synchronization was restored. DSTL functioned as network rebroadcast nodes to distribute the AQlock timing signals across the radar sites.

Saab said it believes the trial to be the first demonstration of a distributed high-performance military radar network maintaining a coherent operational picture using independent quantum timing sources.

“This trial is a great example of how collaboration can accelerate innovation. By combining quantum timing technology with Saab’s advanced Giraffe 1X radar system, we have demonstrated a practical capability that could help customers continue to operate effectively when it matters most,” said Andy Fraser, Group Managing Director at Saab UK.

The trial marks the third collaboration between Aquark and the Royal Navy’s DCTO, following an earlier sea trial in which the AQlock ran continuously aboard HMS Pursuer in the Solent for three days. Aquark’s work under the Royal Navy’s Quantum Optimised Radar project began in December 2025.

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The hub’s mandate includes developing GNSS-independent navigation technologies and spoofing detection capabilities.

“Quantum will shape the next generation of defence capabilities, and Canada must be prepared to lead—not follow,” McGuinty said. “Through the Quantum Defence Innovation Secure Hub, we’re bringing together Canadian researchers, innovators, industry, and government to accelerate Made-in-Canada quantum technologies into mission-ready capabilities that strengthen the operational advantage of the Canadian Armed Forces while growing Canada’s sovereign defence industrial base.”

The Quantum DISH is established under Canada’s Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Innovation and Science (BOREALIS), a Department of National Defence framework for connecting government, industry and academic partners on defense innovation. It joins two existing BOREALIS hubs, the Maritime DISH pilot and the Uncrewed Systems DISH, and was selected through a competitive Call for Proposals held from February 18 to April 2, 2026.

GNSS resilience among four focus areas

The hub will organize work around four areas: quantum sensing, quantum communications, quantum algorithms and quantum hardware assurance. According to the Department of National Defence release, the work will support development of GNSS-independent navigation technologies, spoofing detection capabilities, quantum-secure communications and timing, decision-support tools, and testing and validation of quantum devices and systems ahead of deployment. The department said the hub is intended to reduce vulnerabilities in contested environments, including GPS spoofing, and to help maintain Canada’s technological advantage as global competition in quantum-enabled defense technology accelerates.

The consortium’s goal is to deliver validated prototypes to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Communications Security Establishment within two years.

Consortium and operation

The hub will be operated by the University of Calgary’s Quantum City initiative, under managing director Dr. Megan Lee. The 13-member consortium includes Lockheed Martin Canada, General Dynamics Mission Systems Canada, CAE, Dell Canada and Calian, along with academic partners the University of Saskatchewan, University of Alberta and University of Lethbridge, with the Saskatchewan institutions supported by the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation.

“Quantum City is uniquely positioned to build the cross-sector partnerships needed to advance quantum technologies for defence,” said Dr. Megan Lee, managing director of Quantum City. “By connecting defence stakeholders with researchers, innovators and industry leaders, the Quantum Defence Innovation Secure Hub will accelerate the development and deployment of quantum solutions to strengthen Canada’s defence and national security capabilities.”

Quantum is designated one of Canada’s sovereign capability priorities under its Defence Industrial Strategy. The Department of National Defence said DISHs are designed to provide secure, mission-oriented environments where trusted partners can collaborate on research, testing and validation of technologies for defense and national security use, addressing what it described as a persistent gap between defense innovation and defense procurement.

Lockheed Martin Canada is among the industry partners in the consortium. “We’re incredibly proud to be a supporting partner of Canada’s Quantum Defence Innovation Secure Hub, helping accelerate the transition of quantum R&D into field-ready capabilities for our Canadian Armed Forces,” said Kristen Leroux, vice-president and regional executive, Lockheed Martin Canada and Latin America. “By combining enterprise-level engineering rigour with the speed of innovation, our Lockheed Martin Canada team is ready and energized to collaborate with our DISH partners, empowering delivery of high-impact quantum technology from the lab to the field.”

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The “Backup Solution for GNSS-Denied Navigation” project stemmed from Raysilience’s win of the Test-It prize at the 2024 T-TeC (Telespazio Technology Contest), Leonardo and Telespazio’s open innovation competition for university students and young researchers in the space sector. Raysilience was presented by a team from La Sapienza and LUISS Guido Carli Universities in Rome, proposing an autonomous navigation system for drones capable of operating where GNSS signals are absent, using a positioning method based on satellite imagery and advanced algorithms. The win came with funding for a proof of concept backed by Leonardo, which supported the project’s development and testing.

According to Leonardo, the completed system provides an alternative positioning method for GNSS-denied environments based on satellite imagery and data interpolation techniques, built as a plug-and-play backup that can be integrated across different platforms. The company said all planned deliverables were completed, validating Raysilience’s approach and demonstrating a Visual Positioning System (VPS) capable of delivering reliable positioning without GNSS. Leonardo said the results point toward broader use in UAV navigation and other scenarios where positioning continuity and resilience are required.

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Loran technology was a critical part of Allied transportation and logistics during WWII with over 70,000 receivers built for ships, aircraft, and submarines. According to the Smithsonian, by the height of the Cold War Loran coverage had extended to 70% of the northern hemisphere.

Although systems were disestablished in much of the west after the advent of GPS and in anticipation of Galileo, Loran systems have continued to provide high power, low frequency positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services to vast areas in the east and billions of people in China, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.

Today the modernized and more precise version, eLoran, is making a resurgence in the west as a way to greatly reduce the impacts of attacks on GNSS and demotivate those who might make attacks. It will also protect users and economies when space-based PNT is not available for whatever reason. 

This western renaissance is being led by the United Kingdom where loss of GPS due to severe space weather was first listed on its National Risk Register in 2012. The nation is establishing both a sovereign eLoran network and a fiber timing network that includes three timing centers to substantially mitigate that risk.

The UK has also committed to establishing four additional transmission sites to add to an eLoran timing signal that has been on-air for decades. Funding has been allocated, a search for the best locations and engagement with potential system providers and operators has begun.

France has committed to joining the U.K. with this effort, though whether they plan to create a sovereign system or merely build upon and broaden the reach of the U.K. network has yet to be announced. 

Maritime Use 

“As an island nation, we are much more reliant on maritime than others,” observed a British expert recently. “So, we are very concerned with the entire global maritime supply chain.” 

An information paper the U.K submitted to a recent International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting describes in some detail the nation’s plan for and commitment to implement an eLoran network. Along with providing other details it says:

“The system is currently funded to reach full positioning and navigation services in England, Wales, the English Channel, Strait of Dover and Southern approaches to the United Kingdom by 2030, with full coverage to the North Sea, Ireland and Scotland from 2032. These dates are likely to accelerate due to formal partnerships with the Government of France and developing collaboration with other European partners, with formal announcements likely in autumn 2026.” 

Expanding beyond Europe, the paper also observes that eLoran systems are already serving areas in “… the Middle East, Northwest Europe and East Asia” and that it can help properly equipped vessels in those areas guard against GNSS disruption.

Some experts have observed that ships in the Strait of Hormuz could greatly benefit by accessing the network operated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The U.K. paper at IMO obliquely references this by discussing reducing “… the ability of ‘bad actors’ to disrupt strategically important flows…” and “…greater protection at those maritime chokepoints where precise navigation is most required.”

The paper also includes an invitation to other nations that operate or are interested in developing their own sovereign eLoran systems to contact the U.K. team. An industry rep subsequently reported interest from nations from nearly every region and continent. 

Recent severe GNSS jamming and spoofing events in key maritime areas, especially key choke points like the Strait of Hormuz, and to a lesser extent Bab al-Mandeb, have highlighted the need for PNT alternatives. Some maritime experts are evaluating near term eLoran solutions for these two locations as both may have sufficient service from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s eLoran network for it to be a near term navigation alternative.

Aviation Applications

While often considered a maritime system, Loran has a long history of use in aviation as well. 

It was first used by military aircraft in WWII, an application that continued in the West until the late 1990s. As one example, the F-4E Phantom (top speed Mach 2.2) was equipped with a tactical Loran navigation system as part of the AN/ARN-101. Loran-C navigation was used extensively by both US military aviation and tanks during the first Gulf War (1990 – 91) because of the shortage of receivers for the new GPS system. 

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published the first Loran-related Technical Service Order (TSO-C60 for Airborne Loran-A Receiving Equipment) in May of 1959. Loran-A was the predecessor system that operated between 1800 and 2000 kHz. After Loran-C was selected as the designated radio navigation system for the Coastal Confluence Zone in 1974 and with the introduction of microprocessor technology, user equipment costs rapidly declined. By the mid-80’s there were nearly two dozen companies building user equipment for the aviation market. 

One of those companies was Texas Instruments (TI), introducing the first commercially available Loran-C aviation receiver in 1980. The following year the FAA issued TSO-C60a for airborne area navigation (RNAV) equipment using Loran inputs. By 1983, TI held Supplemental Type Certificates for installation on nearly every model of general aviation aircraft and helicopters used by commercial, military and private pilots.

Its use in civil aviation was sufficiently popular and robust that the FAA funded construction of additional Loran-C transmission sites in the middle of the U.S. to enable coast-to-coast service in the continental US. This, and Canada’s extensive network, enabled seamless Loran-C navigation from northern Mexico to southern Canada. To verify signal integrity to support non-precision approach procedures, a network of 196 monitors were installed at airports across the United States, including in Alaska.

The rapid and sustained rise of GNSS interference in so many parts of the world, along with existing and planned eLoran networks, has renewed interest in how the technology might benefit aviation. As examples:

• A 2018 IEEE paper lead by EUROCONTROL examined DME improvements, LDACS (L-band Digital Aeronautical Communication System), and eLoran. Of the three, eLoran is the only system that is beyond line of sight.
• In 2024 a Zurich University of Applied Sciences paper “Complementing GNSS for Resilient Performance Based Navigation” recommended authorities pursue “… eDME, eLORAN and LDACS-NAV, which have the commonality that they have excellent navigation performance at a lower expected lead time into the cockpit than other systems.”
• In June of this year “Bridging the North Atlantic: The Value of eLoran for Oceanic Airspace” was published by Zurich University of Applied Sciences. In it the author says that establishing three eLoran transmission sites in addition to those already planned by Britain could provide full coverage to the planet’s busiest oceanic air corridor.

Integration and certification requirements mean very long lead times for any new systems to be adopted in commercial aviation. Yet these papers and others have caught the attention of the Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Focus Group at the International Air Transport Association. This could possibly signal the earliest stages of that very long process.

Use by military aircraft and in general aviation as a non-integrated supplemental navigation capability is more likely in the near term. 

Multi-modal Transportation

While maritime and aviation are the highest priority modes, wide area RF-based navigation systems can often serve all forms of transportation. The international eLoran Standards Working Group demonstrated its use in a drone recently. Others have been experimenting with use in surface transportation.

Deployable eLoran 

The U.K. has also contracted for development of a deployable, tactical eLoran capability. Ministry of Defence officials have dubbed the project “Urgent Compass” and tout the technology’s exceptional resilience to interference as being crucial on the battlefield. The new system is expected to build upon the deployable “Loran-D” developed by the U.S. Air Force in 1964 and used throughout the 1960’s and 70’s. The Department of Defense re-examined the technology in the early 2000’s. Last year Germany’s armed forces also fielded and tested a tactical eLoran system.

Standards and Coordination

Several efforts are underway to develop standards for eLoran beyond those already documented in the SAE 9990 series. 

An initial international standards working group that started with the UK, Republic of Korea, and France, now includes the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Navigation Innovation Support Program (NAVISP) Engineering Team. This group convened in Seoul this July to continue its efforts. Group leaders say they want to grow it to include representatives from all interested nations.  

The International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation (IALA) is has also been involved in this working group from the beginning. Recently the IALA council has formally agreed to take on responsibility for international coordination of eLoran operations. 

IEEE has also taken an interest. A session on eLoran and R-mode will be featured at its December navigation conference in Munich. Papers from the UK General Lighthouse Authority, Roke, Cambridge, Georgia Tech, and others have been submitted.

Complementing Space

ESA’s NAVISP has long been involved with the technology. While it is definitely not a space system, eLoran can complement and reinforce space signals. The availability of widely available terrestrial PNT systems can also make attacks on GNSS signals less likely by reducing their impact and demotivating bad actors. 

In one project NAVISP funded Roke’s development of an eLoran antenna for handheld devices in 2024. Going forward the organization intends to remain involved. For example, this October NAVISP’s Industry Days in Rome will feature a panel of experts on GNSS-independent systems that will include eLoran.

Looking Ahead

Whether eLoran coverage continues to extend to what it once was or beyond is yet to be seen. Its broad area coverage and signal characteristics so radically different from space-based systems seem for many to make it an ideal complement for GNSS. 

Yet the success of PNT signals from low earth orbit, magnetic systems, quantum sensors and the like, will undoubtedly be factors. 

What seems certain is that interference with GNSS systems and signals will continue to increase. Sovereign systems like eLoran that can serve an infinite number of users over continental size areas will continue to be of great interest. Indications are that eLoran is rapidly moving from a legacy technology to becoming a strategic component of resilient PNT.

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has authorized Xona to broadcast the world’s first commercial navigation signal designed to operate alongside GPS from its full Low Earth Orbit satellite constellation.

The first-of-its-kind authorization comes as Xona prepares to launch its first six production satellites in October and scales manufacturing at its satellite production facility in Burlingame, California. With this authorization, Xona will become the only FFC-authorized private navigation constellation to operate next to nation-state systems from the United States, Europe, China, and Russia.

Pulsar is the first navigation system purpose-built for the demands of modern devices and infrastructure. Its signals are up to 100 times stronger than GPS, protected against spoofing through a dynamic cryptographic watermark, and designed to work with existing navigation hardware through software and firmware updates.

The new authorization expands upon the FCC license granted for Pulsar-0, Xona’s final demonstration mission and the first commercial satellite authorized to broadcast radionavigation signals in L-band spectrum alongside GPS. The new authorization expands this authorization to Xona’s planned full constellation as the company scales production at its Burlingame production facility.

“From the beginning, we were told that what we wanted to do was impossible,” said Brian Manning, Co-Founder and CEO of Xona. “A commercial company had never built a system like Pulsar, and no one had been authorized to introduce a new, high-power navigation signal alongside GPS. This decision is the culmination of years of engineering, testing and coordination, clearing the way for a capability the world increasingly needs.”

Operating alongside GPS required Xona to demonstrate that Pulsar could deliver a substantially stronger signal without interfering with the navigation and aviation services already operating in the spectrum band. The company worked extensively with the FCC, U.S. government agencies, aviation stakeholders and international governments to evaluate Pulsar’s signal performance and coordinate its operation.

Rather than avoiding those constraints by building in less established frequency bands for navigation, Xona chose the harder path: engineering Pulsar for the L-band spectrum already used by more than six billion Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-enabled devices worldwide. By broadcasting a new proprietary signal adjacent to GPS, Pulsar has demonstrated it can integrate into many existing receivers without requiring an entirely new hardware ecosystem.

“Making room for something new required us to demonstrate that we understood the importance of what was already there,” said Christina Youn, General Counsel and Vice President of External Affairs at Xona. “GPS supports aviation, communications, emergency response, financial markets and countless systems people rely on every day. We did not ask regulators or the industry to take our claims on faith. We designed for coexistence, subjected that design to rigorous scrutiny, and then proved it through live transmissions from orbit.”

Since launching in June 2025, Pulsar-0 has completed more than 350 transmission passes across four continents. Its live signals have been independently tracked by more than a dozen commercial receivers, demonstrated compatibility with existing GNSS on existing navigation hardware worldwide, and supported continued testing of Xona’s signal performance in real-world environments.

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According to the HydroGNSS team, these signals are received after reflecting off the Earth’s surface. By comparing the delayed, scattered reflections against the direct signals received straight from the navigation constellations, the onboard instruments derive critical hydrological variables. The mission targets key environmental indicators, including soil moisture, wetland inundation, freeze-thaw dynamics, and above-ground biomass.

The architecture represents a paradigm shift in cost-effective Earth observation, designed and built for ESA by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). The payloads build upon early GNSS-R concepts demonstrated on TechDemoSat-1 and NASA’s CYGNSS mission. However, HydroGNSS features advanced instruments capable of exploiting multiple GNSS constellations, multi-frequency signals, and dual-polarizations simultaneously.

This multi-constellation capability drastically improves spatial and temporal resolution. Notably, some of the Galileo satellites whose signals are reflected and used by HydroGNSS were also built by SSTL, highlighting a unique industrial synergy.

High-flying resolution

A key feature of the mission is its high-resolution coherent channel. This channel analyzes the phase behavior of the reflected GNSS signals to map surface water along satellite tracks at a sharp 300-meter resolution. When combined over time, data from the two HydroGNSS spacecraft build highly detailed global maps.

Initial data comparisons highlight the unique advantages of spaceborne GNSS-R over traditional active remote sensing. While active C-band radar instruments, such as those on the Sentinel-1 satellites, often struggle to penetrate dense forest canopies, the L-band signals utilized by HydroGNSS excel at subsurface and sub-canopy penetration. This allows the mission to detect hidden wetlands and flooded areas beneath heavy vegetation, providing critical data to refine global carbon cycle models.

Following rigorous validation, ESA has made all HydroGNSS data freely available to aid climate research. With commissioning complete, this mission transforms hydrological monitoring by delivering high-resolution insights into soil moisture and hidden wetlands. It proves agile, cost-effective small satellites can secure a resilient future for global water resource management.

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