Executive Summary

Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) systems underpin nearly every critical function of modern infrastructure, from transport and communications to energy distribution and national security. As dependence on PNT—especially satellite-based services—continues to grow, so does the risk landscape surrounding its use. Threats from both natural disruptions and hostile actors present urgent challenges to ensuring the resilience, assurance, and integrity of PNT services.

This essay advances the concept of PNT Situational Awareness (PNT-SA) as a critical strategic capability essential to organisational and national resilience, and operational continuity. It proposes a structured way to conceptualise the situational awareness and resilience of systems that use PNT data, focusing on three key levels: perception of (use case) relevant PNT signals and conditions, comprehension of their significance and impact, and projection of their future status or degradation.

By treating PNT-SA as a discipline with aspects of cybersecurity or air traffic control, governments and private entities can move from reactive mitigation to proactive assurance. This includes investing in monitoring networks, integrating alternative PNT sources, and institutionalising risk-informed decision-making processes.

It concludes with a call to action: senior leaders must recognise PNT-SA not as a technical luxury but as a strategic necessity. A comprehensive PNT-SA framework enables better detection of threats, swifter response to disruptions, and ensures continuity of operations, enabling the ability to learn and improve. Ultimately safeguarding organisational and/or national interests in an increasingly contested and complex operating environment.