On December 17, Niantic Spatial, a pioneer in geospatial AI, and Vantor, a provider of unified spatial intelligence, announced a partnership to deliver a comprehensive positioning solution that will enable air and ground platforms to navigate and coordinate precisely in GPS-denied environments. Field testing of the integrated system is planned for early 2026.
The partnership addresses a critical vulnerability in modern operations: GPS unavailability, spoofing, interference, and jamming. When satellite signals are compromised, autonomous systems and field teams lose their ability to orient, coordinate or maintain accurate situational awareness.
To address this, Niantic Spatial and Vantor are integrating two distinct, industry-leading localization technologies to create a unified operating picture. The joint capability will leverage Niantic Spatial’s ground-based Visual Positioning System (VPS) and Vantor’s aerial-focused Raptor visual positioning software to create a shared coordinate system from the live video feeds of autonomous drones, vehicles, AR glasses, and other field assets.
Combining these two capabilities offers an integrated air-to-ground system capable of allowing any sensor to determine its position in the real world. This ensures that a drone in the sky and a person on the ground can share coordinates in real-time, even without a GPS signal.
“By combining Niantic Spatial’s expertise in ground-based localization with Vantor’s proven aerial systems and global 3D foundation, we’re building an integrated positioning network that operates anywhere,” said Brian McClendon, chief technology officer at Niantic Spatial. “Our Large Geospatial Model gives these systems the ability to perceive, align, and operate in a shared frame of reference — even when traditional GPS is unavailable.”
“The rise of autonomous and mixed reality systems is reshaping our world, but these systems only work if they can maintain precise location intelligence when GPS is down,” said Peter Wilczynski, Vantor’s chief product officer. “Raptor powers GPS-independent autonomy in the air, and we’re partnering with Niantic Spatial to bring this capability to the ground. Together, we can connect any air- or ground-based camera feed to a unified view of the operational terrain for continuous operations. Built on field-tested software, this solution will easily integrate with hardware systems to give operators a decisive advantage in the field.”
Source: Niantic Special
Time is running out — become a paid subscriber to IC News today, and lock in subscription rates at 2025 prices. You’ll get full access to breaking news from across the IC contracting space, with new articles each weekday.
By 
