The Marine Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) industry has grown rapidly in recent years, with fully autonomous uncrewed ships predicted to be in operation by 2035. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is debating MASS, with much debate on PNT requirements to ensure the safety and security of shipping. It is clear that Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is not enough.

When GNSS or visual aids are not available, mariners have done what they have done for millennia and navigated by the stars. Celestial techniques are tried and tested, and using traditional tools, the mariner can get position results which are good enough for navigating in the middle of an ocean. Other techniques (magnetic anomaly maps and gravity gradients, dead reckoning) assist celestial techniques become more accurate when fused together correctly.

Through MANAA, Telespazio UK will provide new ways of integrating celestial techniques with state-of-the-art technology to develop visual and non-visual spectrum optical techniques with the potential to observe celestial bodies independently of the lighting and weather conditions.