Splash247: Iridium takes anti-jamming chip to market

Published by Splash247

Satellite operator Iridium has started commercial deliveries of a chip designed to shield GPS-dependent hardware from jamming and spoofing, with shipping among the critical industries lining up amid a global surge in signal interference.

The Iridium PNT ASIC, first unveiled last October, measures just 8 mm by 8 mm and weighs less than 0.2 g. It delivers cryptographically secure positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) data via one-way signal bursts from the company’s low-earth orbit constellation — powerful enough to work indoors and in contested environments where conventional GNSS fails.

Virginia-based Iridium said more than 150 organisations across maritime, aviation, autonomous systems, telecoms and other critical infrastructure sectors have expressed demand since the chip was unveiled.

“Assured PNT is becoming an essential capability across critical industries,” said Michael O’Connor, Iridium’s executive vice president for PNT, adding that commercial availability lets manufacturers “integrate trusted timing and location capabilities into smaller, more efficient designs”.

Jamming and spoofing have become endemic in waters around the world’s conflict zones, from the Strait of Hormuz to the Black Sea and the Baltic.

Iridium itself is being acquired by Rocket Lab in a deal unveiled last month.

Pictured above and below, the MSC Antonia, which grounded last year in the Red Sea, though vessel tracking services had the boxship deep into the desert to the west.