Navigation system developed by Ahmedabad-based SAC to give aircraft more accurate guidance.
India’s aviation industry is poised for a major makeover, thanks to a much more accurate GPS-based navigation technology developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India (AAI).
While basking in the celebrations of the 100th PSLV mission launch, scientists at the Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad (SAC) are now excited about the next big project – GAGAN, scheduled for launch on September 22 this month.
GAGAN is a satellite based augmentation system which stands for GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation. Simply put, it is an extremely accurate GPS navigation system especially designed for the aviation industry.
The GAGAN will aim to drastically improve the efficiency of Air Traffic Control (ATC) through this system which will give them accurate positioning of the aircraft of better than 10 meters when in flight. Currently, aircraft have to travel on a set route which may not necessarily be the shortest. Routes are set keeping the available visibility of incumbent systems in mind. The system would mean higher security, lesser travel time and eventually perhaps cheaper airfares.
Director of Space Applications Center Ahmedabad Dr AS Kiran Kumar says, “Right now, there is a gap in the Indian subcontinent for this service. The western countries have their region specific navigation system which gives them extremely accurate positioning of aircrafts in the air. Currently, ATC guides our aircraft through radio navigation. All incumbent and future aircrafts will be equipped with SBAS (satellite based augmentation system) receiver,” Dr Kumar says.
First payload was launched on GSAT 8 in May 2011. The second payload, which is from SAC Ahmedabad, will be launched in GSAT 10 on September 22. After the initial trial and alignment of current systems, GAGAN is expected to be operational by December this year, Dr Kumar says.
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