In addition to E.O. 13905 on the responsible use of PNT and in-depth PNT reports from U.S. DHS and U.S. DOT, there are other relevant PNT-oriented policies and initiatives supported by Satelles:
U.S. National Space Policy
A new National Space Policy recently issued by the White House “acknowledges the importance of space to the advancement of all humanity.” According to an announcement from the Office of Space Commerce, “[t]he National Space Policy sets out the nation’s commitment to leading in the responsible and constructive use of space, promoting a robust commercial space industry, returning Americans to the Moon and preparing for Mars, leading in exploration, and defending United States and allied interests in space.”
The National Space Policy outlines a number of cross sector guidelines that will uphold the principles and achieve the goals of the policy. One of the guidelines is “Maintain and Enhance Space-based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Systems,” and it states that “[t]he United States must maintain its leadership in the service, provision, and responsible use of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).”
Read more about position of Satelles in a 7-Jan-2021 news story.
Space Policy Directive 7 (SPD-7)
This new Space Policy Directive constitutes the Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Policy of the United States, and it highlights the importance of the Global Positioning System (GPS) with regard to the country’s safety and economic growth. SPD-7 goes on to call out the need for alternative PNT services that have “the capability to operate completely independent of, or in conjunction with, other PNT services” and states that “[m]ultiple, varied PNT services used in combination may provide enhanced security, resilience, assurance, accuracy, availability, and integrity.”
The directive broadly reinforces Executive Order 13905 and encourages the government to “identify and implement, as appropriate, alternative sources of PNT for critical infrastructure, key resources, and mission essential functions.” It reconfirms that the U.S. Department of Transportation has the “lead responsibility for the development of requirements for civil applications from all United States Government civil agencies.”
SPD-7 also advocates for U.S. “technological leadership in the provision of space-based PNT services,” a principle that Satelles works to uphold each and every day with STL as its innovative LEO PNT solution.
Resilient PNT Conformance Framework
The Framework informs the design and adoption of resilient PNT systems and help critical infrastructure become more resilient to PNT disruptions, such as the denial or manipulation of signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS). Developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in coordination with industry and federal agency partners, the Framework provides guidance for defining expected behaviors in resilient PNT equipment. Its goal is to facilitate the development and deployment of behaviors of resilience through a common set of guidelines that enables improved risk management, determination of appropriate mitigations, and decision making by end users.
Read more about position of Satelles in a 15-Jan-2021 news story.
National Maritime Cybersecurity Plan
This plan — dated December 2020 and released in January 2021 — begins by noting that “[t]he Maritime Transportation System (MTS) contributes to one quarter of all United States gross domestic product, or approximately $5.4 trillion.” Given that the MTS is an important sub-sector of the Transportation Systems Sector (one of 16 critical infrastructure sectors in the United States), the plan recognizes the criticality of PNT to the safe and secure operations on the sea and throughout our nation’s inland waterways.
The National Maritime Cybersecurity Plan augments the National Strategy for Maritime Security and lays out several broad goals for federal agencies regarding risks and standards, information sharing, and maritime workforce development. As noted in the plan, PNT and satellite communications are essential for MTS security and resilience. This is why the plan “advances the responsible use of PNT service per E.O. 13905.” Furthermore, the plan notes that shipboard navigation systems are susceptible to the disruption or manipulation of PNT signals and should be protected from such threats and vulnerabilities.
Satelles agrees with the PNT focus of this plan and offers STL as an alternative form of PNT to complement and augment GPS.