Xona Space Systems has closed a $170 million Series C round led by Mohari Ventures Natural Capital, with Craft Ventures, ICONIQ, Woven Capital, NGP Capital, Samsung Next, and Hexagon also participating.
The capital will go toward scaling satellite manufacturing at the company's new Burlingame, California facility and accelerating deployment of its navigation constellation. The raise comes as demand for more precise, resilient positioning technology grows across industries from agriculture and construction to defense and financial infrastructure.
GPS was built in the 1970s. For decades, it held up. But the systems that depend on it today, including autonomous vehicles, precision agriculture, smart infrastructure, and modern defense applications, need something the original was never designed to deliver: centimeter-level accuracy with meaningful resistance to jamming.
The problem is already visible. Intentional GPS jamming in the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted navigation for tankers and cargo vessels moving a significant share of global energy and trade. Meanwhile, China alone now operates over 100 next-generation navigation satellites in low Earth orbit. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has reported that domestic GPS modernization efforts are behind schedule and over budget.
The gap between what GPS currently provides and what modern applications require is the market Xona is entering.
Xona's navigation service, Pulsar, operates from Low Earth Orbit using higher-power signals and military-grade encryption, while remaining compatible with existing GPS hardware. Over a dozen commercial receiver partners are already tracking Pulsar signals, with field testing underway across critical infrastructure, construction, agriculture, and IoT applications. Early customers in timing-sensitive industries could see coverage as soon as 2027.
The economic case is unusual for the space industry. At peak production, Xona's Burlingame facility will manufacture more navigation satellites per week than the U.S. currently produces in a year. The company aims to deploy its full 258-satellite constellation for roughly the cost of placing a single GPS satellite in orbit today.
Beyond California, Xona is expanding operations in Montreal and London, with partnerships in place with Furuno in Japan and Topcon globally, covering key markets across Asia-Pacific and Europe.
Xona was founded on the argument that commercial manufacturing can move faster and cost less than government procurement. Vertical integration and shorter development cycles are how the company plans to deploy at a scale and speed that traditional aerospace contracting has not managed.
"GPS has been foundational to modern life, but it was designed for a different era," said Brian Manning, Co-founder and CEO. "The world needs navigation infrastructure that can actually deliver the precision and resilience these applications demand."
The Series C was led by Mohari Ventures Natural Capital, with Craft Ventures, ICONIQ, Woven Capital, NGP Capital, Samsung Next, and Hexagon participating. Hexagon is also a commercial partner, with plans to integrate Pulsar into its precision automation products.
"GPS was designed 50 years ago, and the world has outgrown it. Signals are weak, unencrypted, easily jammed. American farmers literally use Russian and Chinese satellites because GPS isn't enough," said Jay Zaveri, Founder and Partner at Natural Capital and Strategic Partner to Mohari Ventures. "Xona's Pulsar satellites fly 20 times closer to Earth and deliver signals 100 times stronger, bringing centimeter accuracy with no new hardware required."
