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The National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) and Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), are cooperating to explore opportunities in low-Earth orbit (LEO) space navigation systems.
The growing dependence of economies and daily lives on Global Navigation Satellite Systems is driving innovation and leading to technologies that deliver enhanced resilience and improved performance. At the forefront, low-Earth orbit positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) is emerging as a game-changer.
The LEO-PNT satellites seek to provide guaranteed and sovereign centimeter location accuracy, robustness, resistance against jamming and spoofing, and low latency. LEO-PNT will serve emerging applications such as high-level autonomy cars, including persistent coverage in dense urban areas, unmanned aerial and maritime vehicles, and 5G/6G ground telecommunication network synchronization.
Recognizing the strategic importance of LEO-PNT, the NSSTC is working with Thales Alenia Space to explore opportunities in this domain. The partnership was formalized through the signing of a memorandum of understanding at the Paris Air Show 2025, establishing a framework for cooperation. Building on that foundation, both parties signed an agreement marking the start of joint technical studies and engineering activities focused on regulatory protection and system design elements for LEO-PNT.
The collaboration reflects a vision to explore pathways that can enhance the robustness and sovereignty of future navigation services while deepening international cooperation and knowledge exchange between the United Arab Emirates and Europe in the field of space technology.
“This collaboration marks an important step toward building the UAE’s next-generation navigation capabilities,” said Ali Al Shehhi, director of NSSTC. “LEO-PNT will bring a new level of precision and resilience, and working with Thales Alenia Space allows us to accelerate our path toward a sovereign system that supports the UAE’s long-term strategic vision.”
“LEO-PNT is a game changer in satellite navigation in terms of increased precision, resilience and signal penetration, enabling new applications and economic growth,” said Hervé Derrey, CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “We are proud to offer our expertise in satellite navigation to the NSSTC, thereby strengthening our collaboration with the United Arab Emirates in the space domain.”
