Furuno has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Xona Space Systems to develop products that integrate Xona’s Pulsar low Earth orbit positioning, navigation and timing (LEO PNT) service, with a particular focus on timing and synchronization applications, the companies announced February 3.
The agreement positions LEO PNT not as a standalone alternative, but as an additional signal layer that can complement or, in some cases, substitute for legacy GNSS in environments where interference, jamming and spoofing are now assumed risks rather than edge cases. Furuno explicitly links the move to the U.S. policy push on PNT resilience, including the 2020 Executive Order 13905 on responsible use of PNT services.
LEO PNT as an engineered signal layer
Furuno describes the target architecture as a “dedicated” LEO PNT constellation in the 500–2,000 km band, on the order of a few hundred satellites, separate from non-terrestrial network (NTN) communications constellations.
Pulsar fits that template: Xona is building a roughly 258-satellite constellation delivering dual L-band navigation signals designed to be spectrally compatible with existing GNSS services. The lower orbital altitude translates to substantially higher received power—Furuno cites signals on the order of 100× stronger than traditional MEO GNSS, a key lever for resilience and urban performance.
For receiver OEMs, one of the selling points is that Pulsar’s signal structure is intentionally GNSS-like, so that support can, in principle, be added via firmware to existing multi-band designs rather than requiring a wholesale RF/baseband redesign. Recent technical work has focused on coexistence and Doppler management rather than basic feasibility.
Timing first, then broader PNT
Although the MoU is framed broadly as “exploring opportunities” for LEO PNT solutions, Furuno’s release is most concrete on timing. The company says integrating Pulsar into its timing products should allow holdover and resynchronization when GNSS is degraded or untrusted, effectively treating LEO PNT as an independent control signal in the timing chain rather than just another GNSS augmentation.
That emphasis aligns with how many operators are approaching LEO PNT: timing for critical infrastructure and networks is often the first operational use case, with full position/velocity integration following as receiver designs and operational concepts mature.
The MoU also builds on prior technical collaboration between the two companies, including a joint paper on tight GNSS/LEO/INS integration in dense urban environments presented by Furuno at an ION GNSS+ session.
Part of a broader LEO PNT build-out
Xona has been demonstrating Pulsar capabilities with its Pulsar-0 satellite, including authenticated ranging and live-sky jamming tests, and has raised significant private capital to scale the constellation into the hundreds of spacecraft.
The MoU does not specify product timelines, but it clearly marks a shift from analysis and experimentation toward integration and packaging for end users who increasingly view GNSS resilience as a procurement requirement rather than an optional feature.
