Navigation and telecommunications group engages in innovative studies on satellite navigation and satellite communications. Integrating satellite navigation and telecommunications, satellite navigation with barometric altimetry and inertial sensor, are the main research themes.

Proposed by Prof. Guoxiang AI, the group along with its partners in Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) developed a Chinese Area Positioning System (CAPS) which is an integration of satellite navigation and communications. Different from the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), the space component of CAPS consists of commercial geostationary (GEO) communication satellites and decommissioned ones with inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO). The navigation messages are generated at the master station and transmitted to the communication satellites. Satellite transponders receive the signals, translate the carrier frequencies and then send the navigation signals to the ground. A CAPS receiver not only enables the determination of position, velocity and time, but offers mobile satellite communications as well. The CAPS has been utilized to carry out researches on counter interference strategy, and wideband satellite navigation in which the ranging accuracy has achieved 10 cm.

The group also works on the application of its invented technologies to surveillance and data collection platforms for transportation, ocean observation and railway systems. The application of the satellite navigation observation to radio and ionospheric physics studies is another major theme. This includes space weather effects on GNSS positioning, ionospheric parameter retrieval, ionospheric model and corrections for radio systems.