GAGAN to take charge of Indian skies

NEW DELHI: Navigating through the Indian skies would soon become easy. This is because the government plans to launch the satellite-based navigation system GAGAN (Global Navigation Satellite System-aided Geo Augmented Navigation) next year, which is being developed jointly by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

India will enter the big league in the world aviation scenario with the launch of GAGAN next year, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said here on Tuesday. “Having such an advanced system will launch India into the future. The next generation of technology would enable airports in handling large volumes of air traffic,” he said while inaugurating the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Navigational Systems Panel meet.

The minister said that there was an urgent need to upgrade technical skills to handle the rapidly increasing air traffic. He said the GAGAN system would make Indian skies safe and secure at par with the best in the world. Similar systems, like GAGAN are being developed by the US, European Union and Japan. AAI chairman K Ramalingam said the technology demonstration phase of the GAGAN system had shown better than expected results. The system was now being integrated with the geo-stationary satellite INMARSAT-4F1. “Encouraged by its initial success, it has now been decided to initiate the final operational phase, in which its coverage area will be extended to the oceanic airspace also,” Mr Ramalingam said.