Xona Space Systems received conditional Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to operate its Pulsar L-band navigation signals commercially via a proposed 258-satellite low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation.

“With this authorization, Xona will become the only FCC-authorized private navigation constellation to operate next to nation-state systems from the United States, Europe, China, and Russia,” Xona noted in a statement. “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.”

The FCC initially authorized Xona to deploy 16 spacecraft, with further approval to be based on an updated orbital-debris assessment. Thereafter, the company must orbit half its total constellation by July 2032, with the whole constellation needing to be up and running by July 2035.

Xona intends to launch its first six satellites in October, and is scaling its Burlingame, California-based facility to mass produce the Pulsar satellite. The expansion proceeds a $170 million Series C funding round from March led by Mohari Ventures Natural Capital. Before that round, the company reported it had raised $150 million after a Series B in July 2025 led by Craft Ventures.

Xona intends to operate a privately-owned alternative or supplement to government navigation satellite systems like GPS, Galileo, Glonass, or China's BeiDou. Those are primarily medium-Earth orbit (MEO)-based constellations operating at a height of around 12,500 miles.

Xona expects its own signals to be much stronger from LEO that tops out at around 1,250 miles (2,012 km), where throughput is higher because it's closer to the endpoint. The FCC hasn’t certified the accuracy, security, or reliability of these services.

In spectrum terms, Xona’s L-band signals will be adjacent to the GPS L1 and L5 frequencies. L-band spectrum is more tightly controlled than other bands due to the number of national security and safety systems using those spectrum bands.

Xona’s Pulsar-0 demonstration satellite launched in mid-2025 on the SpaceX Transporter-14 mission, where it has since completed more than 350 live transmission passes across four continents.