Isro to share indigenous positioning tech with industry to boost usage

Agency's NavIC provides position accuracy of five metres, versus 20-30 metres in the case of GPS; plans trial runs for fishermen to help them spot large shoals, warn them of disaster

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will transfer technology to companies to help them build navigational devices for a variety of applications, including smartphones. The decsion to share the technology is driven by its aim to get more users to use the homegrown NavIC network for finding routes across the country.

NavIC or (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is the country's constellation of seven navigation satellites -- India's alternative to the US GPS network. The Navigation tool, which has been used for strategic purposes so far, provides positioning accuracy of five metres.

Isro's Space Application Centre (SAC) said that it has