Fugro’s SpaceStar GNSS Precise Point Positioning (PPP) service provides high-accuracy positioning in space. Highly accurate positioning in LEO is becoming increasingly important for Earth observation applications, safe constellations management, and space debris collision avoidance.
Loft Orbital, which flies and operates customer payloads on its YAM series of small satellites, launched its YAM-2 satellite, equipped with Fugro’s SpaceStar positioning technology, in late June into a 525 km sun-synchronous orbit.
SpaceStar uses PPP to deliver high-accuracy sub-decimeter onboard positioning in real time during YAM-2’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) operations. Fugro’s proprietary positioning software is integrated into YAM-2 to receive precise GNSS real-time orbit and clock corrections from geostationary satellites.
“Fugro’s SpaceStar service is something that can really help not only Loft Orbital’s missions but also be of interest to the wider application of space situational awareness and safety,” said Loft Orbital CTO, Pieter van Duijn.
