The Hindu Business Line : DoS to finalise SatNav contract; foreign bidders in fray

THE Department of Space (DoS) is to finalise a contract for ground-based equipment for the demonstration phase of the country's ambitious satellite navigation (SatNav) project. The first beneficiary will be civil aviation.

In the race for the nearly Rs 150-crore contract are the US major Raytheon and the French giant Alcatel, with whom the ISRO/DoS has been in talks for over a year. The chosen bidder will supply ground-based equipment for the eight reference stations and the master control centre planned at Bangalore, besides global processing systems (GPS).

Called GAGAN, the national SatNav project is a collaboration formalised in November 2002 between ISRO/ DoS and the Airports Authority of India. It is expected to be demonstrated in phase 1 by 2006 and be fully in place in 2008.

GAGAN (GPS aided Geo Augmented Navigation) is being worked out to ensure greater efficiency and safety for the civil aviation agency and other users. It will also catapult India into a select club of countries with their own regional satnav systems.

The satellite-based augmentation system is becoming the norm mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation ICAO. The US has its WAAS, Europe has EGNOS and Japan has its MSAS. GAGAN will fill the gap between EGNOS and MSAS, said Mr K.N. Suryanarayana Rao, GAGAN Project Director at ISRO Satellite Centre.

The technology demonstration phase could become operational around 2005-06 when the space agency plans to fly its Gsat-4 communications satellite carrying a SatNav enabling transponder. An initial experimental phase will cover the Indian airspace and in the final phase, the satellite will become compatible with the international systems to enable seamless navigation.

GAGAN is to be implemented in three phases and will connect all domestic airports. ``ISRO will be the implementing agency and it will transfer the system later to AAI,'' the official said.

A modern and efficient SatNav system will bring business by air through more international flights, as has been seen in the West, said an AAI official familiar with the project. In the long run, it should also lower flying costs that have been rising due to the cost of ground based-navigation and landing aids, which should eventually get phased out, he said.

The DoS official said the uses of SatNav are immense, includingautomobiles, railways and emergencies.

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