# Satellite navigation can address GPS jamming and accuracy gaps Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/satellite-navigation-can-address-gps-jamming-and-accuracy/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy. - Speaker: [Brian Manning](https://realalpha.app/people/brian-manning/) · Co-founder & CEO, Xona Space Systems · Co-founded Xona, building a jam-resistant commercial GPS alternative from low Earth orbit; raised $250M. - Host: [John Coogan](https://realalpha.app/people/john-coogan/) · Co-host, TBPN · Co-founded Soylent and Lucy; OpenAI bought his show TBPN in April 2026. - Host: [Jordi Hays](https://realalpha.app/people/jordi-hays/) · Co-host, TBPN · Founded Branded Native; co-founded fintech Capital, which Rho bought. - Show: TBPN - Episode: [Matthew Prince on PHP2Shell, Duo on Arrival, 100 Really Difficult Phone Calls, Norwegian Gold Scheme](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/), Oct 22, 2026 - Moment: 1:34:47 to 1:39:40 of the episode (5 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/satellite-navigation-can-address-gps-jamming-and-accuracy/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5687 ## Quote > “they're answering, I would say, kind of the what and the why, but it's really leaving **the where and the when**.” > — [Brian Manning](https://realalpha.app/people/brian-manning/) at [1:35:22](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5722) · TBPN ## Takeaways 1. Satellite communications and navigation solve different problems. 2. GPS jamming now affects civilian as well as military systems. 3. Xona designs its service to fill gaps in legacy GPS. ## About this segment Brian Manning says GPS limitations affect everyday navigation and critical systems, while jamming is an increasing risk. Xona aims to provide more precise, resilient positioning for devices. From “Matthew Prince on PHP2Shell, Duo on Arrival, 100 Really Difficult Phone Calls, Norwegian Gold Scheme”, Oct 22, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/) ## Transcript Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there. [1:34:52](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5692) have just way way way like because of the explosion of robotics that i think we can bank on over the next 10 plus years there's just going to be way more connected devices that that have a bunch of unique needs some of which align with with you know humans just carrying devices but there's a bunch of other use cases. Yeah, I think the company's like, so we came out of the autonomous car world and it was really built to support the world's transition from a hands-on world to a hands-off world. And if you look at what satellite communications are really doing for devices, they're answering, I would say, kind of the what and the why, but it's really leaving the where and the when. And so that's our system really fills the where and the when for things. And it does it at an accuracy level that they need in the places that they need and it's really filling [1:35:42](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5742) the gaps for gps struggles and so your gps as Great of a system as it is, is a half-century-old architecture operated by the military, built for the military. And most people, like, if you ask a random person on the street, like, hey, what is the value of space? A lot of people say, well, like, well, GPS, that's the first thing that comes to mind. But similarly, you see the, what I call the nuisances today, where if you're, you know, if you're using a Strava app to go running, and you go underneath trees, and it's, you know, I didn't run two miles, I actually ran two and a half. [1:36:12](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5772) or the Uber is down the street and you can't catch it because it's just on the opposite side and you're running through the rain. There's those levels of nuisances, but it also is much bigger than that and what the conflict in Ukraine has highlighted where GPS jamming is just kind of running wild because it does disrupt all the military systems that are over there. We're seeing the same in Israel. We saw the same in Iran. [1:36:34](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5794) And these are no longer just military problems that all the countries around there are getting disrupted. I mean, there's even been civilian airliners that have gotten shot down because of this. So it is an unfortunately expanding problem that we are really building a solution to, primarily built for commercial, but we are proud of the work that we do with the military as well. On military GPS, I remember maybe like 15 years ago or something when Google Maps was becoming dominant. [1:37:06](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5826) There was this thing that might have been fake news or rumor, but this idea that the civilian GPS system was less accurate than the military GPS system. And at a certain level of precision, that technology or that protocol was like encrypted or classified. I don't know if that's true or not, but are you going to face similar regulation where a certain capability level of your technology will be restricted? [1:37:33](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5853) or are we in a new regime where kind of everyone can have centimeter level access to positioning because maybe it's not that big of a deal anymore i don't know yeah the answer is a bit of both and so in i think it was the 1990s um that they did the u.s actually did degrade the accuracy it was called selective availability that's right yeah and they turned it off for a second i think during like the gulf war and everyone's like wow this is way better than we thought um but then there was a 747 that wandered into a russian airspace and got shot down and killed everybody on board and so that was actually the u.s made the decision that like this is too important like having reliable precision is too important to the world we can't keep degrading it and so they actually made it uh i think clinton made an executive order to that they won't degrade it anymore [1:38:24](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5904) um and so when you come so the 747 got off track because it didn't have the higher level of precision right interesting it wandered into like that makes sense gps wasn't really being used and so it wandered into unfriendly airspace and if you translate into the modern world like the same the same thing is happening effectively again but it's not as much even around precision it's about the protection and you know the jam but like how jammable gps is sure and like Like, unfortunately, it was, I think, Christmas of 24. [1:38:55](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5935) It was in Azerbaijan Airlines. Yep. Like, and it didn't, like, the GPS was jammed. It couldn't find the runway. And so it was doing circles. And it wasn't broadcasting where it was because it didn't know where it was. And so it got shot down. You know, it got shot down. And so, you know, if that was an American Airlines flight, I think it would have caught a lot more news. Definitely. But, like, unfortunately, these instances are becoming more real. [1:39:17](https://realalpha.app/v/xq6fzvVM6V4/?t=5957) And, you know, aviation cuts a lot of attention, but it's happening to drones. It's happening to time synchronization. It's happening to buses, to logistics, to all these different things that just need a lot better precision, a lot better power and protection than they're able to get with the kind of legacy systems that are out there. Interesting. I have one last question. Go for it.