ISRO looking to extend services to Saarc countries

An ISRO official said on Thursday that they are looking to extend the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) and Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) applications to Saarc countries.

"Already we are having within the country the provision for providing the services, we are looking at how we can extend this (navigation services) to Saarc countries in the near future and gradually extending for the entire globe," said A.S. Kiran Kumar, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), at the second Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) User Meet - 2015.

IRNSS applications include terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, precise timing, disaster management, mapping and geodetic data capture, automated logistics in factories, construction sites and mines, vehicles tracking and fleet management, terrestrial navigation for hikers and travellers and integration with mobile phones.

Surveying emergency response, business solutions, geographical data collection, natural resources, land management, scientific research and geodynamics are some of GAGAN's applications.

"Both GAGAN and IRNSS are certified for operation and this makes India only the fourth country in the world to provide satellite navigation system," said Kumar.

Of the seven satellites of IRNSS constellation, four are already in orbit while the remaining three will be in place by March 2016, Kumar said.

"We have made the signals available from space, what these signals can be used for is only our creative imagination," added Kumar.

As many as 200 receiver systems will be set up incorporating ISRO and industry design for increasing the IRNSS signals, added Kumar.

Lauding ISRO's ability to meet its needs within India, Kumar said that 28 different products were produced within India.