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 in the Capital.

"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 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.

The Wide Area Augmentation System codes for radio frequencies were obtained from the US Air Force and US Department of Defence on November 2001 and March 2005. US defence contractor Raytheon, which is implementing the Auto Track-III system at the IGI airport, is also involved.

The system would use eight reference stations located in Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore, Jammu and Port Blair, and a master control centre at Bangalore to provide navigation and air traffic management over the entire Indian airspace and Indian Ocean area -- from Southeast Asia to the African shores.

The Flight Management System based on GAGAN would help the operators to save time and money by managing climb, descent and engine performance profiles of aircraft.

It would also help improve airport and airspace access in all-weather conditions and the ability to meet environmental and obstacle clearance constraints.

GAGAN would also enhance reliability and reduce delays by defining more precise terminal area procedures that feature parallel routes and environmentally optimised airspace corridors.

After its final operational phase completion, the estimated cost of GAGAN would be over Rs 780 crore.

It will be compatible with other SBAS like WAAS of the US, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service and the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System of Japan, providing seamless air navigation service across regional boundaries.