{"id":17486,"date":"2026-11-04T09:35:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T08:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialisation.esa.int\/?p=17486"},"modified":"2026-11-04T09:35:47","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T08:35:47","slug":"the-esa-business-incubation-centre-lazio-incubatee-navigate-demonstrates-precise-orbit-determination-on-board-d-orbits-ion-satellite-carrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialisation.esa.int\/?p=17486","title":{"rendered":"The ESA Business Incubation Centre Lazio incubatee NaviGate demonstrates precise orbit determination on board D-Orbit\u2019s ION Satellite Carrier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In September, <strong>NaviGate<\/strong> announced the completion of the demonstration of <strong>NaviCode Caravel on board D-Orbit\u2019s ION Satellite Carrier<\/strong>. Operating directly on the spacecraft\u2019s on-board computer and without any additional hardware, the software calculated the satellite\u2019s position in real time using raw GNSS data.<\/p>\n<p>Tested through D-Orbit\u2019s Software In-Orbit Demonstration service, Caravel processed real flight telemetry data across several sessions, achieving a minimum formal uncertainty of 5.2 cm and average values in the decimetre range using GPS measurements only.<\/p>\n<p>By reprocessing the flight data on the ground with <strong>GODOT<\/strong>, the European Space Agency\u2019s flight dynamics software, NaviGate verified the consistency of the on-board solutions obtained with NaviCode Caravel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis successful in-orbit operation validates a solution that enables satellites to determine their position accurately and autonomously, using the GNSS receiver already available on board,\u201d said <strong>Andrea Sesta<\/strong>, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of NaviGate.<\/p>\n<h2>From ESA support to in-orbit demonstration<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Caravel<\/strong>, the first solution in the NaviCode family and winner of the 2026 CASSINI Challenges, was developed as part of a proof-of-concept programme funded by <strong>Galaxia<\/strong>, the <strong>National Aerospace Technology Transfer Hub<\/strong> promoted by <strong>CDP Venture Capital<\/strong> together with <strong>Obloo Ventures<\/strong>. NaviGate is now working with constellation operators and mission integrators to define the first pilot projects.<\/p>\n<p>Incubated at <strong>ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC) Lazio<\/strong>, part of ESA&#8217;s Europe-wide network supporting space-related startups with technical expertise, business coaching, networking opportunities and equity-free funding, NaviGate benefited from early-stage support to advance its technology towards commercial application. \u201cThe support received through the ESA BIC programme helped the company boost the technology development and connect with industrial partners in view of the In-Orbit Demonstration, proving the effectiveness of the ESA Commercialisation programmes in bringing innovative solutions into the space industry supply chain\u201d, said <strong>Michele Iapaolo<\/strong>, the ESA Country Manager of ESA BIC Lazio.<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/commercialisation.esa.int\/esa-business-incubation-centres\/\" target=\"\" class=\"btn btn btn-outline-secondary ms-0\">Read more on ESA BICs<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In September, NaviGate announced the completion of the demonstration of NaviCode Caravel on board D-Orbit\u2019s ION Satellite Carrier. Operating directly on the spacecraft\u2019s on-board computer and without any additional hardware, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":17487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[250],"tags":[768,519,313],"directorate":[431],"sts-api_categories":[],"esa-fields":[],"class_list":["post-17486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-business-incubation-centre","tag-lazio","tag-satellite","directorate-commercialisation-competitiveness-support"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The ESA Business Incubation Centre Lazio incubatee NaviGate demonstrates precise orbit determination on board D-Orbit\u2019s ION Satellite Carrier - ESA Commercialisation Gateway<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/commercialisation.esa.int\/?p=17486\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The ESA Business Incubation Centre Lazio incubatee NaviGate demonstrates precise orbit determination on board D-Orbit\u2019s ION Satellite Carrier - ESA Commercialisation Gateway\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In September, NaviGate announced the completion of the demonstration of NaviCode Caravel on board D-Orbit\u2019s ION Satellite Carrier. Operating directly on the spacecraft\u2019s on-board computer and without any additional hardware, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialisation.esa.int\/?p=17486\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ESA Commercialisation Gateway\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-04T08:35:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialisation.esa.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/ESA-BIC-Lazio-NaviGate-image-resized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1671\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"941\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Miriam Musacchio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Miriam Musacchio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialisation.esa.int\\\/?p=17486#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialisation.esa.int\\\/?p=17486\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Miriam Musacchio\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialisation.esa.int\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e1b5791bf28db4ff5b08368350ceed7b\"},\"headline\":\"The ESA Business Incubation Centre Lazio incubatee NaviGate demonstrates precise orbit determination on board D-Orbit\u2019s ION Satellite Carrier\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-04T08:35:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialisation.esa.int\\\/?p=17486\"},\"wordCount\":340,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialisation.esa.int\\\/?p=17486#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialisation.esa.int\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/ESA-BIC-Lazio-NaviGate-image-resized.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC)\",\"Lazio\",\"satellite\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialisation.esa.int\\\/?p=17486\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialisation.esa.int\\\/?p=17486\",\"name\":\"The ESA Business Incubation Centre Lazio incubatee NaviGate demonstrates precise orbit determination on board D-Orbit\u2019s ION Satellite Carrier - 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