Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract for Phase II development of an advanced, software-defined Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) payload from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under the Blackjack program.
With options to build units for space flight, the Phase II development effort is valued at $13.3 million if all options are exercised through emulation, critical design and build.
The PNT payload work is led by Northrop Grumman’s Future PNT Systems Operating Unit in Woodland Hills. The team supports the DARPA Tactical Technology Office’s goal of achieving capable, resilient and affordable national security space capabilities from Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
“Northrop Grumman’s software-defined PNT technology will offer military users an agile new signal from LEO that is not dependent on existing satellite navigation systems,” said Dr. Nicholas Paraskevopoulos, chief technology officer and sector vice president, emerging capabilities development, Northrop Grumman.
“Warfighters depend on assured PNT for traditional missions like force projection and joint operations, but also for emerging autonomous and distributed missions.”
The PNT payload features Northrop Grumman’s Software Enabled Reconfigurable Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Embedded Architecture for Navigation and Timing (SERGEANT) capability.
