The Hindu Business Line : GAGAN ready for demo phase

US defence and aerospace major Raytheon Company has said it has completed the preliminary system acceptance test for the technology demonstration stage of GAGAN.

GAGAN is the Rs 300-crore Indian augmentation for GPS to enable space-based navigation for civil aviation.

The GAGAN TDS (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation-Technology Demonstration System) is the first phase of the project sponsored by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India.

However, it can be tried out only when ISRO flies a GAGAN-compliant satellite in mid- or late 2007, as ISRO recently said. GAGAN is expected to be fully operational by 2009.

Raytheon, ISRO to work

The $21.9-billion US major has supplied, installed and integrated the ground sub-systems. "Raytheon will next work with ISRO to integrate the ground elements to a geosynchronous satellite," it said.

At an India press briefing organised at the ongoing Farnborough Air Show, Mr Andy Zogg, Vice-President, Raytheon's Airspace Management and Homeland Security business, said, "This test (using emulators that mimic a satellite) was significant because the GAGAN-TDS ground elements supplied by Raytheon were installed and integrated ahead of schedule." "The system functioned properly and exceeded the accuracy requirements," a release here quoted him as saying.

The GAGAN-TDS network gives India-specific corrections on the US Global Positioning Satellite signals and improves the positioning accuracy of end-users. During the tests, the average accuracy was better than 1 metre horizontally and slightly over 1m vertically, Raytheon said.

GAGAN is one of many augmentation systems being implemented by nations as mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation to shift civil aircraft to satellite-based signals. The technology improves navigation in all phases of flight, from take-off through landing; makes routes more flexible and efficient, adds to landing safety, apart from offering better guidance at lower costs for navigation service providers.

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