Skykraft signed a Participating Project Partner Agreement for the “Demonstration of Collaborative Position Navigation and Timing (PNT) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)” project last month. Supported by an International Space Investment (ISI) India Projects grant from the Australian Government, this initiative marks a key step in supporting the growth of joint space projects between Australia and India.
ISI India Projects broadly aligns with the India Economic Strategy to 2035, especially regarding the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement – focusing on strengthening our bilateral relationships and activities with mutual understanding of common interests and shared values, in support of both countries’ prosperity. Further information on Minister Husic’s announcement can be found at this direct link. Additional information about the ISI India projects can be found on the Business.gov.au website.
The primary goal of the project is the development of next-generation collaborative PNT systems. PNT systems play a critical role in sectors such as transportation, communication, and infrastructure, however existing systems can be prone to errors. For example, the aviation industry has been particularly affected in a growing number of regions, with aircraft navigation systems being impacted or incorrect information being reported to Air Traffic Management (ATM) controllers.
The project will demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale constellations in LEO, address the vulnerability of existing Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) in denied environments, investigate additional applications for PNT signals that can be exploited from LEO and, through the demonstration of the resilience of large-scale constellations (which can be easily updated and reconstituted), provide a roadmap to enable collaborative LEO-PNT.
This ISI India project will enhance Australia’s space capabilities by demonstrating innovative solutions for GNSS-independent positioning and timing and showcase the benefits of a sovereign, resilient, and assured PNT anywhere around the globe.
This collaboration brings together leading institutions from both Australia and India, including:
- RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
- Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India
- Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi), Delhi, India
- FrontierSI, Melbourne, Australia
- University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
- University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia
- Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
A significant aspect of this collaboration is the access provided to Indian researchers and students, who will be able to utilise Australian-generated data and test waveforms on Australian-built and operated satellites—fostering closer business, technology, and cultural ties between the two nations.
In addition to advancing PNT systems, the project aims to improve environmental sensing through GNSS-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) and Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) technology, enabling an improved understanding of the Earth’s oceans, droughts, and floods. These technologies will also enhance real-time space weather and terrestrial weather forecasting, as well as emerging applications like tsunami monitoring and warning, showcasing the technical expertise of both Australian and Indian organizations.
By fostering closer business, technology, and cultural ties between Australia and India, this collaboration represents an exciting opportunity to push the boundaries of space technology and develop cutting-edge solutions for global positioning and timing challenges.
Michael Frater, CEO of Skykraft, said “We are proud to have been selected to lead this joint Australia/India project which will provide a strong foundation for both countries to develop and launch a next generation PNT system. We are looking forward to working with our partners from both nations to successfully deliver the project and encourage development of an operational in
dependent PNT system.”
