A project to develop a resilient and independent alternative to satellite navigation systems like GPS and Galileo has received funding of £540,000.
The University of Strathclyde is among the Scottish universities collaborating with partners nationwide to receive a share of £3.8 million from the National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP), on technologies for secure communications, environmental monitoring, and navigation.
The PICTS AltNav (Precision Inter-satellite Coupling of orbits and Time-Synchronisation for Alternative Navigation) project aims to create a novel system that can operate entirely independently, ensuring continuous and reliable timing and navigation services even when existing systems are compromised.
Significant risks
Global reliance on GPS can make critical infrastructure systems vulnerable to disruption, with jamming and ‘spoofing’ of GPS, becoming increasingly common. This poses significant risks to vital sectors like communications, energy, and transport, including safety of air travel.
Principal Investigator, Professor Malcolm Macdonald, Director of the Applied Space Technology Laboratory at Strathclyde, said:
The core idea is to create a constellation of small satellites in low Earth orbit, LEO, instead of relying on expensive, high-precision atomic clocks on every satellite.
“This project will develop methods for decentralised time synchronisation, which means the satellites will communicate with each other in a smart, connected network, sharing and agreeing on precise time information using more affordable, on-board clocks.
“This approach will also make the system fault-tolerant, meaning it can continue to function effectively even if some satellites experience issues or are disrupted.”
Second project
Strathclyde researchers are also involved in a second project in the funding call, ‘Intersatellite Deep Ultraviolet Quantum Keys’ (i-DUQK). The initiative aims to develop the specialised quantum technologies required to create a compact, space compatible UV-QKD transmitter for CubeSats. The project is a partnership between the universities of Bristol, Strathclyde, York, Bath, and Fraunhofer UK. It follows a UK Space Agency Enabling Technology Programme project led by Strathclyde which established the feasibility of the concept.
The funding was announced at the Space-Comm Expo in Glasgow, with a further £1.1 million in funding for the space clusters of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Space Minister Liz Lloyd said: “We’re backing Scotland’s brilliant scientists and engineers to develop space technology that makes a real difference to people’s everyday lives."
UK Government Scotland Office Minister Kirsty McNeill, said: "With our globally renowned expertise in designing and building satellites and rockets, world-leading universities and research centres analysing and applying space data, a commitment to sustainability and unrivalled geographical launch advantages, Scotland is rightly positioned at the forefront of the ever accelerating space revolution.”
Economic potential
The Scottish Government’s Business Minister Richard Lochhead said: “Scotland’s space sector and wider supply chain is already delivering on its significant economic potential but also helping solve some of the world’s most important challenges from climate change to telecommunications.
“This funding from the National Space Innovation Programme will help accelerate this work, leveraging our world-class universities to ensure the country’s industry remains at the forefront of space technology development and advancement.”
Launched in April 2025, NSIP Call 2 attracted over 560 proposals, reflecting strong demand from UK industry and academia. The programme backs high-risk, high-reward ideas that move technologies closer to market, unlock private investment, and align with national priorities.