Article Posted on : - Jun 26, 2011

A file photo

NEW DELHI (PTI): The satellite to operate the GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system that will offer seamless navigation to air traffic over the Indian Ocean and the Indian airspace has been positioned.

"The initial phase is now over. The satellite is now in position," Airports Authority of India Chairman V P Agarwal said here.

"We are now going through the certification stage of the Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) and we will have certification of the system by June 2013," he said at a recent workshop on aviation safety organised by the Aviation Watch journal.

Along with trials, GAGAN's certification process is being carried out with Directorate General of Civil Aviation and other bodies, with the AAI and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developing it.

India would become the fourth country in the world to adopt this system which would enhance the accuracy and integrity of GPS signals to meet precision approach requirements in the civil aviation, official sources said.

Others using similar technologies are the US, the European Union and Japan.

Once operational, GAGAN would provide augmented information for satellite navigation to aircraft flying over Indian airspace and routes over high seas with high level of accuracy, integrity and continuity during the entire flight operations - from take-off to landing, they said.

The GAGAN transmitter is to be integrated with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to provide an SBAS over Indian airspace.

The project is currently in the final operational phase and is scheduled to be completed by June 2013.