Inside Iridium’s GPS protection breakthrough: The 8mm alt-PNT chip built for a jammed world
October 27, 2025
Iridium Communications has unveiled a miniature satellite-enabled chip designed to safeguard GPS-dependent systems from the growing threat of jamming and spoofing.
Announced today at the International Timing and Sync Forum (ITSF) in Prague, the Iridium PNT ASIC (Positioning, Navigation and Timing Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) is the world’s first globally available, chip-level alternative to GPS and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
The device, measuring just 8mm by 8mm, delivers authenticated, pole-to-pole timing and positioning data directly from the Iridium constellation, providing what the company calls “GPS protection on a chip.”
“This is a first,” Matt Desch, Iridium’s Chief Executive Officer, told journalists on a call. “To provide this type of capability on a global basis has never been done before. The size, low cost, and scalability of this solution to protect GPS is a major breakthrough.”
Global rise in GPS and GNSS interference
The announcement comes as GPS and GNSS interference continues to rise globally, affecting aviation, maritime operations, and critical infrastructure.
Several high-profile incidents in 2025, including GPS loss on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s aircraft and spoofing in the waters off Qatar, highlight the mounting vulnerabilities of satellite navigation. OPSGROUP estimates that up to 1,500 commercial flights a day now experience spoofing or jamming events.
“We’ve reached the point where disruption is not the exception — it’s part of the operating environment,” Desch told journalists on the call. “Governments and industries can’t just hope GNSS will always be there. They need something built in, always available, and that’s what we’ve created.”
How the Iridium PNT ASIC works
The chip provides an authenticated, encrypted data stream directly from Iridium’s Certus constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites, 1,000 times stronger than standard GNSS signals, allowing it to function indoors or through interference where GPS typically fails.
Embedded into any GNSS-enabled device, it acts as both a validation layer and a backup service, detecting interference, correcting spoofed data and maintaining timing integrity when satellite signals are denied.
“The market for alternative PNT solutions is shifting rapidly toward compact, integrated technologies,” Rohit Braggs, Iridium’s Vice President of Commercial PNT, told media. “This ASIC takes that concept to the next level — making Iridium PNT available in the smallest form factor yet, ready to go into every kind of device that depends on trusted navigation or timing.”
Braggs described the chip as a “hardware embodiment” of Iridium’s existing PNT service, which already underpins timing solutions for financial networks, 5G synchronisation, and government systems. “Think of it as bringing resilience down to the component level,” he explained. “You don’t have to redesign your infrastructure — you just integrate this chip and instantly add a layer of global protection.”
Alternative PNT for critical infrastructure and autonomy
The Iridium PNT ASIC is targeted at a wide range of sectors, including aviation, maritime, autonomous vehicles, telecommunications, data centres, and power grids, as well as Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
“Every device that relies on GNSS today — from drones to trading servers — needs a dependable backup,” said Braggs. “We’re no longer talking about just protecting aircraft or military assets. This is about protecting everyday systems that make the digital economy run.”
Desch added that the technology is designed to be cost-effective and scalable: “This isn’t a high-end defence product. It’s something manufacturers can integrate at scale, whether it’s a drone, a satellite terminal or a timing server in a data centre.”
Tested under live GPS jamming and spoofing conditions
Iridium demonstrated the ASIC’s capabilities during Jammertest 2025, a European event that evaluates navigation technologies under simulated jamming and spoofing conditions. According to Desch, “the chip maintained timing accuracy and navigation integrity throughout the tests, even when GPS was completely denied.”
He said the company’s goal was to make interference detection and correction seamless. “The user shouldn’t have to know when spoofing is happening — the system should just keep working. That’s the philosophy behind this design.”
Iridium is now inviting commercial and government partners to join its beta programme, offering evaluation kits for early testing and integration. Full commercial availability is expected in mid-2026.
A fast-growing market for alternative and assured PNT
The launch marks a major step in what analysts call the emerging alternative and assured PNT market — systems designed to maintain positioning, navigation, and timing when GNSS is unavailable.
That market is projected to reach $3.5 billion by 2032, driven by demand from critical infrastructure operators, autonomous vehicle developers and national security agencies seeking to reduce reliance on foreign satellite constellations.
Braggs said Iridium’s long-term vision extends beyond redundancy: “This is about assurance — knowing that your data is authentic, that your clocks are synchronised, and that your systems will continue to function even in the harshest conditions.”
Iridium’s global satellite network enables resilient PNT
With Iridium’s 66-satellite constellation already providing real-time coverage from pole to pole, the company is uniquely positioned to deliver PNT resilience on a global scale.
Desch said the development of the ASIC was a natural progression for Iridium, aligning with its reputation for reliability and secure communications: “We’ve always been the network people rely on when everything else stops working. This is the logical next step — ensuring that the world’s timing and navigation layer never stops working either.”
He added, “Every day we see new evidence of how fragile GPS really is. What this chip represents is the start of a new phase — one where resilience isn’t an afterthought, it’s built into the system.”
Iridium PNT is already in use in government and enterprise networks across North America. With the ASIC, the company aims to expand its footprint globally by embedding the technology into next-generation electronics — from financial servers and telecom base stations to autonomous platforms.
“Our vision is simple,” Braggs said in closing. “If it uses GPS, it should use Iridium too.”
The Iridium PNT ASIC is on display this week at the International Timing and Sync Forum (ITSF) in Prague. Organisations interested in early integration can apply for evaluation kits on the Iridium website.
