CHENNAI: The Centre is soon expected to issue the notification to make GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation), the indigenously developed navigation system, mandatory for new aircraft registered in the country from January 1, 2019.
This would enable the country to break free from the over-dependence on the international tech regime led by the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the US and Global Navigation Satellite System of Russia. It will also plug the gap in covering equatorial region.
Sources in the Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed that GAGAN, jointly developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Airports Authority of India, is ready for full optimisation and has obtained an international certification for approach and precision landing operations (APV1/1.5) over the subcontinent.
The Director General of Civil Aviation has conducted rigorous ground tests for two years meeting the prescribed international civil aviation requirements, said ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar, adding that GAGAN-compliance would very soon be made mandatory for aircraft. “Any GAGAN-enabled receiver will provide accurate positional information which can be relied upon,” he said.
India is only the fourth country in the world to have the capability to provide certified satellite-based augmentation services over its Flight Information Region, thus elevating it to the group of elite nations that can provide a platform for transition to satellite-based navigation.
GAGAN also claims to have several operational advantages that would make it essential for the aircraft flying here, said officials. According to them, the system would give airlines the ability to derive maximum flexibility, capacity utilisation, fuel consumption with direct routing and lower carbon footprint, which would encourage regional operators to make their aircraft GAGAN-ready. This is also the first satellite-based augmentation system in the world to serve the equatorial region, which would bridge the gap between the European Union’s EGNOS and Japan’s MSAS coverage areas.
Data from this three-satellite constellation for GAGAN—GSAT 8, 10 and 15—is also helps perimeter-monitoring and identifying boundaries. “It is accurate to one metre,” said Kumar. He added that other user segments such as intelligent transportation, maritime, highways, railways, surveying, geodesy, security agencies, telecom industry and personal users of position location applications can make use of it. The system is interoperable with other international systems like EGNOS, MSAS, the US’s WAAS etc. GAGAN’s geo footprint extends from Africa to Australia and has expansion capability for seamless navigation services across the region.
Why GAGAN?
The Global Positioning System (GPS) from the US, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) from Russia and the proposed GALILEO satellite navigation system from Europe are meant for providing position and timing information for a variety of applications. However, for safety-critical application, the basic constellations cannot meet the requirements in terms of accuracy, integrity and availability. For this purpose, these are augmented by an overlay system, which is GAGAN.
India in elite club
India is the fourth country in the world, after the US, Russia and Japan, to take up the challenge of establishing the regional SBAS that will redefine the navigation over India and adjacent regions.
Global reach
The footprint of GAGAN will cover area beyond Indian territory, from Africa to Australia, and can support seamless navigation across the globe
Initially, in December 2013, the DGCA had certified GAGAN for en route operations, and for precision approach services two years later, in April 2015. These signals are being broadcast with effect from May 19, 2015.
GAGAN ionospheric algorithm known as ISRO GIVE Model-Multi-Layer Data Fusion (IGM-MLDF) was developed by ISRO and is operational in the implemented GAGAN system