Quantum sensors hold promise to serve as the core for new systems for positioning, timing and navigation (PNT) that could provide an alternative, or even replace, today's Global Positioning System satellites.
SDA Director Derek Tournear said next year his organization will begin launching the Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites for regional communications, which also will carry a "navigation message" embedded in their venerable Link 16 data links.
The U.S. Army’s MAPS Gen II program of record for assured PNT provides an authoritative and reliable source of truth for combat vehicles in a highly contested battlespace.
The QZSS Hosted Payloads are seen as a pathfinder to improving US and allied cooperation in tracking adversary satellites and dangerous space junk.