Satellite imagery company Maxar has unveiled new software that it says can provide drone crews with accurate, real-time location data even when GPS is jammed.The company, which is based in Colorado, said on Tuesday that the "first-of-its-kind" software, dubbed Raptor, can help drone operators obtain "accurate ground coordinates in the absence of GPS."Anders Linder, general manager of Maxar's International Government Division, told Newsweek: "This will be the standard way of what's going to happen in the future — I think that is the big change."Satellite data has been critical for Ukrainian and Russian drone operators coordinating strikes on enemy assets and positions. But just as drone warfare has defined the conflict, so too have counter-drone systems designed to knock them out.Jamming or fooling of satellite navigation, known as spoofing, have became major obstacles to drone pilots targeting strategic assets close to frontline clashes in eastern Ukraine.To combat counter-drone systems, Raptor provides an "extremely accurate" three-dimensional map covering 90 million square kilometers of territory, piecing together what is essentially a "digital twin of the world," according to Linder.Drones, like those operated extensively by Ukrainian or Russian forces, can access a chunk of this 3D map, showing the specific area needed for a certain mission.When flying, an operator can see a visual feed from the drone camera superimposed onto the 3D map, updating the location and obtaining precise coordinates.The software can help drone operators obtain target location data accurate to within three meters, a figure comfortably within NATO guidelines for the highest level of accuracy, according to Maxar.The software has been tested in several countries, including during trials in an undisclosed active conflict zone, the company said.Any drone from cheap, commercial models to top-of-the-range, military-grade uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) would be able to use the map.Drone crews would also be able to operate the 3D map at night, or when the drone is flying low to the ground.Linder told Newsweek that without the Ukraine war, innovations such as Raptor would not be on the table. "The thinking has been there for a long time," he said. "But to take it into something productized, that can be proliferated, no — that's truly driven by what has been seen in that conflict."Mitch Free, chief solutions architect for international government at Maxar, added: "I'm sure that the technology race on both sides of the equation is going to accelerate, but we don't see anything on the horizon at the moment."Meanwhile, Samuel Bendett, a drone expert with CNA, a Washington-based nonprofit for research and analyses, said that dealing with electronic warfare interference is likely to be a critical issue in future conflicts."Whenever someone gets in touch asking me to make a drone, the question on whether it can operate in a 'GPS-denied environment' comes up," he told Newsweek.He added that there is a significant possibility that in a major conflict, the satellites propping up Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) could become targets.GPS, or Global Positioning System, is the U.S.'s network of satellites, ground stations and receivers that is often used as shorthand for GNSS, a more general term that refers to any satellite navigation system. Europe has its Galileo constellation, while Russia uses GLONASS.Overcoming satellite navigation interference could have a major impact on the tactics deployed by military drone operators in the future.If operators can reliably access accurate location data through Raptor's 3D map, it will be easier to coordinate multiple-drone operations, or swarming tactics. This involves using a large number of drones, overwhelming a target's defenses.Without GNSS data, these drones are more likely to stray away from the swarm, or knock one another out of the sky.