Union Minister of Civil Aviation P Ashok Gajapathi Raju on 13 July 2015 formally launched the GAGAN system (GPS AIDED GEO AUGMENTED NAVIGATION) in New Delhi.
With this, India has become the fourth nation after the US, Europe and Japan to have inter-operable Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS). Also, GAGAN is the first SBAS system in the world to serve the equatorial region.
On the technical front, the final operational phase of the system commenced on 19 May 2015, when it started broadcasting APV1 Certified aviation signals.
Features of GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) System
- It is a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) developed jointly by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- Its primary objective is to establish, deploy and certify satellite based augmentation system for safety-of-life civil aviation applications for the Indian air space.
- It plays an important role in safety of life applications in transport, sensitive commercial applications and liability-critical applications needing legal course.
- It offers free enhanced satellite navigation signals by correcting deviancies in GPS signals by deploying ground based navigational infrastructure.
- The system is inter-operable with other international SBAS systems like US-WAAS, European EGNOS, and Japanese MSAS etc.
- It has been developed at an estimated cost of 774 crore rupees.
- It will enable transition of the air traffic management system to satellite-based seamless navigation across continents covering the airspace from Australia to Africa as well as west Asia to China and Russia.
- While the GAGAN Payload is already operational through GSAT-8 and GSAT-10 satellites, the third payload will be carried onboard GSAT-15 satellite scheduled for launch in October 2015.
