GoKawiilXona Space Systems to launch first six satellites for commercial GPS rival
Startup Xona Space Systems is set to launch six satellites this month, marking the debut of what it calls the first precision commercial alternative to GPS. Founded in 2019 by five Stanford-trained engineers, the company aims to sell more accurate, harder-to-jam positioning and timing signals than government-run systems like GPS, Galileo, BeiDou and GLONASS. CEO Brian Manning said the company built a new satellite architecture that avoids costly onboard atomic clocks by relying on close ground communication.