"Northrop Grumman's software-defined Positioning, Navigation and Timing technology will offer military users an agile new signal from LEO that is not dependent on existing satellite navigation systems", the company's Vice President for Emerging Capabilities Nicholas Paraskevopoulos said in a press release.
Northrop Grumman's LEO positioning and navigation system is designed to let military forces operate in degraded environments that deny access to existing systems, the release added.
The "phase 2 development" contract valued at $13.3 million was awarded by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to the release.
DARPA is a Defence Department research unit with a history of developing futuristic technologies such as the present GPS system and the internet.