The Hindu Business Line : Sat-nav system GAGAN demo in mid '06 likely

Its business opportunities are enormous. Apart from cellular and satellite phones, sat-nav can eventually spread to umpteen GPS-needing users such as railways, logistics and cars.

Bangalore , Dec. 11

INDIA'S own augmented satellite-based navigation system for smooth air traffic is getting ready to take off. It will have its demonstration in mid-2006 and first country-wide trials in early 2007.

The futuristic GAGAN, as it is called, will meet the civil aviation industry's emerging needs in CNS/ATM (communication, navigation and surveillance/ air traffic management), said senior ISRO officials, Dr K. N. Shankara and Dr Suresh V. Kibe.

Primarily aimed as a modern positioning aid for aircraft pilots, its immediate fall-out will be greater efficiency and safety for aircraft uniformly across the 110 AAI (Airports Authority of India) airports.

This will result in smooth communication with the ground control, neat landings, timely warning and fewer collisions.

The project will be launched when ISRO flies its GSAT-4 satellite that carries the sat-nav transponder in mid-2006. A single satellite positioned over the sub-continent can cover vast areas over Asia, Africa, Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

Preliminary work of installing GPS-enabled (global positioning system) hardware is under way at eight airports. A master control centre is nearing completion at Kundanahalli outside Bangalore.

The Civil Aviation Ministry's Rs 300-crore GAGAN project (GPS-aided Geo Augmented Navigation) is being implemented in three phases through 2008 by the AAI with ISRO's technology and space support.

For now, GAGAN is a regional augmentation based on the US military's GPS and enables seamless air traffic between different regions.

In the coming decades, if it comes up with its own orbiting constellation of navigation satellites, GAGAN will pitchfork India into the privileged club of sat-nav haves. With the US, the Russian military satellite system GLONASS rules this space, while Europe is trying to have its own 30-satellite Galileo proposal.

Its business opportunities are enormous. Apart from cellular and satellite phones, sat-nav can eventually spread to umpteen GPS-needing users such as railways, logistics and cars, said Dr Kibe, Sat-Nav Programme Director at ISRO.

That day is still far off in India. But in the US, annual GPS equipment sales have already crossed $13 billion compared to the $10-billion investment in GPS and its $500-million annual maintenance.

Russia is also roping India into its depleting 21-satellite GLONASS, possibly for building or launching replacement satellites.

Earlier last week, the ISRO Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, signed a non-disclosure agreement with his Russian counterpart as a sequel to the framework agreement they had signed in December 2003.

The Indian role was yet to be specified, the ISRO officials said. The 30-satellite, $3.6-billion Galileo project also wants India in its 25-nation plan, and has outlined its role.

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