Space-based navigation system delivering centimeter-accurate positioning globally
Xona is building next-generation GNSS infrastructure—a satellite-based positioning network competing against terrestrial alternatives. The tech stack reveals heavy FPGA/hardware expertise (Xilinx RFSoC, Zynq, Vivado, Verilog/VHDL) paired with real-time embedded systems (ARM, RTOS, Linux), now adopting FPGA to deepen signal processing capabilities. Engineering dominates the org chart by far, with active hiring across flight software, payload development, and satellite platform design—a hiring velocity that matches the complexity of their core projects: orbit determination, next-gen GNSS payloads, and end-to-end satellite manufacturing.
Notable leadership hires: Satellite VP
Xona develops space-based navigational intelligence targeting applications requiring real-time, centimeter-level position accuracy anywhere on Earth. The company operates across three interconnected dimensions: satellite platform architecture and design, flight software and avionics integration, and payload development for next-generation GNSS. Current execution centers on orbit determination pipelines, test automation for flight software validation, and low-rate satellite production workflows. The engineering-heavy hiring profile and pain points around cross-functional dependencies and manufacturing scale suggest Xona is in active development and early production phases, managing the classical space-sector tensions between performance, cost, and schedule.
Xona develops a space-based GNSS system for real-time, centimeter-level positioning. Their platform combines satellite hardware (using Xilinx FPGAs and embedded systems) with orbit determination pipelines and flight software for global navigation coverage.
Hardware: Xilinx RFSoC, Zynq UltraScale+, Vivado, VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog. Software: Python, C/C++, ARM, RTOS, Embedded Linux. Infrastructure: AWS, Kubernetes, Apache Pulsar, Git/GitLab. Now adopting FPGA for signal processing.
Other companies in the same industry, closest in size