AFRL, Luminous Space to Develop Resilient Positioning Capability for Warfighters

The Air Force Research Laboratory and California-based company Luminous Cyber have partnered to develop a resilient in-theater Global Positioning System solution to be used in regions where conditions are degraded or malicious actors actively jam or interfere with positioning capabilities.

Under the collaboration, the AFRL’s Sensors Directorate adopted Luminous Cyber’s Location Information Service platform to provide real-time, resilient geolocation and time synchronization information to warfighters. To make the solution compatible with warfighters, the company plans to provide geolocation and synchronization data for fixed and mobile airborne Air Force assets.

The company submitted its LIS integration concept through the Tech Connet program in May 2021, AFRL said Tuesday.

After the lab confirmed that the proposal has merit, Luminous received funding to develop the concept and was later awarded a Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract, which kicked off in June 2022.

Other GPS-related developments have also been realized across the military.

In late May, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency partnered with NASA, the U.S. Space Force and other organizations to build a GPS-like capability for the moon. According to NGA Director Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth, the lunar geodetic system will work like the World Geodetic System 1984.