GPS Satellite Navigation

In discussions about satellite navigation security, the term "GPS interference" often dominates headlines in the news or on social media. This terminology reflects the historical dominance of the Global Positioning System in civil, military, and commercial applications. However, when it comes to actual interference in the radio frequency spectrum, the situation is more nuanced.

In aviation and other sectors, interference events linked to spoofing and jamming have increased dramatically over the last several years. This trend has prompted regulators and industry stakeholders to reframe the problem as broader "Global Navigation Satellite System Interference", rather than an isolated, targeted issue for a single constellation.

The current situation is that operational disruptions due to GNSS RFI have become a daily occurrence in some regions of the world [...] (ICAO, 2025)

Why GPS is Often Named First

GPS remains the most frequently referenced constellation in public and operational documentation primarily because it is the largest deployed civil system and the default reference framework for many receivers around the world. When writing reports, pilots often use "GPS" as a shorthand when describing navigational signal anomalies. This can lead to the perception that interference attacks are specifically targeting GPS.

Although many modern receivers are multi-constellation capable, meaning they can simultaneously track signals from multiple navigation systems, aviation has stagnated in implementing multi-constellation reception, with many receivers only supporting GPS, and only some recently developed receivers supporting both GPS and Galileo.

When interference impacts common civil GNSS frequency bands, it affects more than just GPS. In other words, an attacker that transmits noise or fabricated signals in the shared spectrum can disrupt not only GPS, but also Galileo, GLONASS, and BeiDou signals at the same time.

GNSS Interference Is Fundamentally About the Spectrum

GNSS Frequency Bands

Source: Eltehs SIA Company

From a technical perspective, interference affects signal reception at the frequency level. Civil GNSS signals such as GPS L1 and Galileo E1 occupy adjacent or overlapping parts of the L1/E1 band. A jammer that targets the L1/E1 band will typically degrade the ability of a receiver to make use of all constellations operating in that band.

Regulatory documents increasingly emphasize this point by referring to "GNSS interference". This terminology covers both jamming, where noise overwhelms the receiver, and spoofing, where false signals are designed to mislead the receiver's navigation solution.

Conclusion

So, is GPS the most targeted constellation for spoofing and jamming? No. Does aviation technology overwhelmingly rely on GPS rather than supporting multi-constellation technology? Yes.

Understanding the distinction matters for how systems are designed and how operators interpret navigation anomalies in contested environments.

This is where technologies like StratoCentral and StratoNode can bridge the gap between raw GNSS data and operator understanding. Read about how StratoCentral can help you in monitoring the integrity of your GNSS environment.

References