Accord Software builds global profile in satellite navigation services
With the DRDO emphasising the developing of micro satellites and nano satellites for tactical surveillance and communications, Accord is set to provide GNSS for these
 "In 1991, Accord Software began working with the DRDO on the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft")
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In 1991, Accord Software began working with the DRDO on the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft
In 1991, when the US waged its first televised war on Saddam Hussein, with CNN showing grainy black and white images of precision missiles like the Tomahawk flying down the streets of Baghdad and entering their target building through open doors or windows, the stage was set for a new generation of weapons technologists to harness America’s Global Positioning System (GPS) to guide missiles, aircraft, warships and land systems more accurately than ever before.
That year, five Indians, including three technologists who quit their jobs in Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), came together to form a software engineering firm called Accord Software and Systems (hereafter Accord). They began working with the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) on a new indigenous fighter — the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.
Within a couple of years, the GPS had become a new technology frontier and Accord diversified into navigation solutions for Indian missiles such as the Agni and Prithvi, and for newer missiles that followed them.
Today, Accord’s GPS-based navigation systems guide most of India’s strategic and tactical missiles.
Accord also supplied the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) its first GPS receivers for launch vehicles and satellites, and for the Chandrayaan mission.
GPS uses signals from a constellation of the US military navigation satellites to calculate one’s precise position, accurate to within centimetres.
In 1995, the US declared the GPS operational for civilian users. There were no guarantees regarding its accuracy, but Accord saw an opportunity to harness those signals and improve their accuracy through “augmentation” software, which filters those inputs through inputs from one’s own satellites like the GAGAN (GPS-Aided Geo-Augmentation and Navigation) system.
The accuracy can never be augmented to the level of the GPS military signal, which was inaccessible to anyone but the US military. Even so, Accord augments the GPS signal to a very accurate level.
The impetus to work in this field became stronger at the turn of the century, when Russia operationalised its GLONASS system, based on its own satellites, followed by Europe with the Galileo system and China’s BeiDou.
Besides missiles, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) began equipping civilian airliners. Accord has become a big player in this market.
For the “precision approach” of airliners to a runway, Accord has developed a Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) that guides them to within 200 feet of the landing spot. After that, the Instrument Landing System (ILS) takes over and guides them further to the touch down point.
That year, five Indians, including three technologists who quit their jobs in Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), came together to form a software engineering firm called Accord Software and Systems (hereafter Accord). They began working with the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) on a new indigenous fighter — the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.
Within a couple of years, the GPS had become a new technology frontier and Accord diversified into navigation solutions for Indian missiles such as the Agni and Prithvi, and for newer missiles that followed them.
Today, Accord’s GPS-based navigation systems guide most of India’s strategic and tactical missiles.
Accord also supplied the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) its first GPS receivers for launch vehicles and satellites, and for the Chandrayaan mission.
GPS uses signals from a constellation of the US military navigation satellites to calculate one’s precise position, accurate to within centimetres.
In 1995, the US declared the GPS operational for civilian users. There were no guarantees regarding its accuracy, but Accord saw an opportunity to harness those signals and improve their accuracy through “augmentation” software, which filters those inputs through inputs from one’s own satellites like the GAGAN (GPS-Aided Geo-Augmentation and Navigation) system.
The accuracy can never be augmented to the level of the GPS military signal, which was inaccessible to anyone but the US military. Even so, Accord augments the GPS signal to a very accurate level.
The impetus to work in this field became stronger at the turn of the century, when Russia operationalised its GLONASS system, based on its own satellites, followed by Europe with the Galileo system and China’s BeiDou.
Besides missiles, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) began equipping civilian airliners. Accord has become a big player in this market.
For the “precision approach” of airliners to a runway, Accord has developed a Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) that guides them to within 200 feet of the landing spot. After that, the Instrument Landing System (ILS) takes over and guides them further to the touch down point.