A drone uses satellite positioning to hover in place, hold its route and fly back to the home point. The more satellites it locks, the more stable and accurate its position.
The four systems
- GPS (United States)
- GLONASS (Russia)
- Galileo (European Union)
- BeiDou (China)
Receivers that use several systems see more satellites at the same time. Each model page linked from the drone wind limits chart lists the systems that drone supports.
How many is enough
There is no single number for every drone, but a stable position generally needs a comfortable margin: many pilots wait for 10 or more locked satellites and for the home point to be recorded before taking off. Drone Weather Forecast warns when fewer than 9 are locked by default (adjustable).
What reduces the count
- Terrain and buildings: valleys, city streets and dense trees hide part of the sky.
- Low elevation: satellites close to the horizon are easily blocked; the app applies an elevation mask when it counts them.
- Space weather: a high KP index can degrade accuracy even with many satellites.
Check before you go
Satellite geometry changes through the day. Drone Weather Forecast computes the visible satellites of each system for your exact position hour by hour, from CelesTrak orbital data, so you can pick a window with good coverage before you leave home.