Department of Transportation awards $7 million for Complementary PNT Technologies

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded contracts to nine Complementary Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technology vendors. The primary and most recognizable PNT service supporting critical infrastructure is the Global Positioning System (GPS) utilized for all modes of transportation, including aviation, maritime, and rail. In addition to transportation applications, use of GPS is foundational through many sectors of the economy such as surveying, the financial sector, machine control, precision agriculture, science missions, and space applications. However, because GPS relies on signals broadcast from satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO), the signal strength at the receiver is low and thus vulnerable to intentional and unintentional disruptions. These awards will enable DOT to conduct real-world field tests of commercial PNT technologies to facilitate adoption into systems that depend on secure and reliable PNT services.

Awarded through the Volpe Center, in response to the Rapid Phase of the DOT Complementary PNT Action Plan, and totaling more than $7.2 million, these awards provide funding for instrumentation, testing, and evaluation of Complementary PNT technologies at field test ranges in conjunction with critical infrastructure owners and operators. The goal is to facilitate adoption of Complementary PNT technologies to improve PNT resiliency.

The Complementary PNT technologies will be fielded within six months after award at a diverse set of test range models (Federal Government-Hosted, Critical Infrastructure, and Vendor-Fielded).

www.transportation.gov