UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía is participating in a research project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate the use of Signals of Opportunity from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) communication constellations for resilient Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) navigation.
Supported through ESA’s NAVISP Element 2 Programme, the initiative aligns with European objectives for technological sovereignty, autonomy, and resilience. The consortium is led by Inster-Grupo Oesía, with participation from UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía, CTTC, and SICWAVE, and focuses on developing dual-use navigation solutions incorporating non-GNSS signals.
The proposed system will use non-cooperative signals from LEO communication satellites, particularly in the Ka-band, to generate robust Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) observables. Although these signals are not designed to provide positioning or navigation services, the project aims to use them to complement conventional navigation sources, particularly when Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are degraded, denied, jammed, or spoofed.
UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía’s contribution centers on integrating LEO-derived observables into its high-performance UAV autopilot. Its navigation algorithms will combine positioning information from LEO communication signals with inertial measurements, air data, GNSS (when available), and additional inputs such as vision-based navigation. This multi-sensor fusion approach is designed to support robust and resilient state estimation in GNSS-contested environments.
A key aspect of the research involves extracting position estimates from multibeam, electronically steered antennas and incorporating them as new observables within the UAV’s navigation filter. According to the project announcement, the high-directivity antennas required for wideband communications with emerging LEO constellations, such as IRIS2 or similar systems, inherently offer greater robustness against jamming and spoofing than conventional omnidirectional GNSS antennas.
The project addresses the growing importance of resilient navigation as UAS operations expand into Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) missions and contested airspace, particularly for defense, security, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications.
The proposed approach will be validated in a flight-representative environment to demonstrate its feasibility.
Visit the UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía team at AUSA 2026, taking place October 12–14 in Washington, D.C.
