Landing gear in the Sky

Union Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju will launch the Gagan satellite-based navigation system for the aviation industry on Monday. India will become the fourth country to do so. Business Standard gives you a quick look at the new system and its likely impact on the sector.

WHAT IS GAGAN?

Gagan, which stands for GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation, is a satellite-based system meant to improve the accuracy and integrity of navigation systems. It will augment GPS signals over the Indian land mass, the Bay of Bengal, Southeast Asia, West Asia and the Arabian Sea, widening its reach up to Africa. At present, radio navigation aids are used for precision landing and approaches at Indian airports.

WHAT WILL THE SYSTEM DO?

With reference and uplink stations, Gagan will essentially provide corrections to GPS signals for improving air traffic management. It is believed to be 10 times more precise than GPS.

WHO DEVELOPED THIS SYSTEM?

It has been jointly developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organisation at an estimated cost of Rs 774 crores

BENEFITS

* Improved efficiency
* Increased fuel savings
* Direct routes
* Reduced workload of flight crew and air traffic controllers
* Improved safety
* Ease of search and rescue operations

WILL IT REPLACE THE EXISTING NAVIGATION SYSTEM?

No. The existing ground-based navigation system will continue.

WILL ALL AIRLINES IN INDIA BE ABLE TO USE THE GAGAN SYSTEM?

Most aircraft in India are not equipped with a particular type of GPS receiver compliant for satellite-based augmentation systems like Gagan. These receivers help in precision guidance for landing. At present, only a few non-scheduled charter planes are equipped

ROAD AHEAD

Existing aircraft would have to be retrofitted with these receivers to use Gagan as a primary source of navigation. Until then, use of satellite-based navigation system in the country would be minimal. Also, AAI is devising navigation and landing procedures. Once these procedures are certified, aircraft equipped with the required GPS receivers would be able to use it

SO, WHO WILL BENEFIT IN INDIAN AIR SPACE?

It will make it easier for aircraft movements to small airports that do not have navigation aids. Usually, such airports have higher visibility requirements for landing. With the satelite-based systems, these requirements would be reduced.