Xona plans to use the new capital to scale satellite production, with a goal of building 50 spacecraft a year by the end of 2027.
Xona Space Systems raised $250 million in Series D funding and launched six satellites this month as it moves to begin commercial positioning, navigation and timing service from low Earth orbit in 2027.
The funding round, led by Future Ventures and including other new and existing investors, values the California company at $2.45 billion and brings its total capital raised since its 2019 founding to more than $570 million. The company also recently received about $10.7 million from the Canadian government to expand operations in Montreal. Xona plans to use the new capital to scale satellite production, with a goal of building 50 spacecraft a year by the end of 2027.
Six Pulsar satellites flew Oct. 20 on a SpaceX rideshare mission. Four modified satellites built with Aerospacelab will support initial service, while two test satellites designed and manufactured by Xona will validate its in-house design ahead of full-rate production. The company aims for a constellation of roughly 258 satellites.
Xona’s Pulsar system is designed as a commercial alternative and complement to government GPS networks. The company says its low-Earth-orbit signals can deliver centimeter-level precision, resist jamming and spoofing, reach receivers indoors and operate at power levels up to 100 times stronger than traditional GPS. Interest has grown from commercial users in autonomous vehicles, robotics, aviation and critical infrastructure, as well as from defense customers concerned about GPS interference in contested areas.
Chief Executive Brian Manning said the company is on track to begin serving early commercial users with a timing service next year and plans military integration tests with Army, Navy and Air Force assets. In August, Xona received Federal Communications Commission approval to broadcast L-band signals as a private navigation constellation operating alongside government systems. Other commercial developers are also pursuing low-Earth-orbit positioning, navigation and timing systems as backups or alternatives to GPS, underscoring rising demand for more resilient location services.
