NIST confirms STL as an accurate and reliable source for wide-area delivery of Coordinated Universal Time

Satelles, Inc., innovative provider of highly secure satellite-based time and location services, today announced an important new finding by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) about Satellite Time and Location (STL). Following a detailed performance study in 2020, NIST determined that STL is a reliable source of timing that is highly consistent with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and is based on a signal that is independent from the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The STL service was able to deliver this consistent performance in a deep indoor environment where GNSS signals did not reach.

The results of the study were shared by Dr. Elizabeth Donley, Chief of the Time and Frequency Division at NIST, when she presented at the recent Workshop on Synchronization and Timing Systems (WSTS) conference organized by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS). She addressed the WSTS audience about NIST’s work to develop non-GNSS sources of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and in her presentation categorized STL as one of the non-GNSS sources of UTC.