Article Posted on : - Jul 22, 2009

GAGAN stands for GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation-Technology Demonstration System. It monitors GPS satellite signals for errors and then generates correction messages to improve positioning accuracy for users.

CHENNAI (BNS): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has awarded an $82 million contract to American defence and aerospace systems manufacturer Raytheon Company to modernise the Indian air navigation system.

Raytheon will build the ground stations for the GPS-Aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation System, and ISRO will provide the space segment and additional ground equipment. GAGAN will provide satellite-based navigation for civil aviation over Indian airspace and adjoining areas in South and East Asia.

According to a Raytheon statement, GAGAN will be the world’s most advanced air navigation system that will improve safety, reduce congestion while enhancing communications to meet India’s air traffic management needs.

"Our GAGAN solution addresses the four essential elements of safe air navigation: accuracy, integrity, availability and continuity," says Fritz Treyz, Raytheon Network Centric Systems director of Business Development who led the Raytheon team pursuing the GAGAN initiative.

Raytheon is the only company that has delivered satellite-based augmentation systems that have been certified for safety-of-flight operations, says a company representative. The company developed the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System and was engaged in the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau's Multi-Function Transport Satellite Augmentation System.

Mr. A. S. Ganeshan, GAGAN project director of ISRO Satellite Center, has led the ISRO team. The GAGAN system is expected to be ready by 2013.