[Avionics Magazine 07-01-2016] India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation released its national civil aviation policy document in mid-June, with an aim at making the South Asian nation the world’s third largest market for civil aviation. As part of the new policy, India’s national government has implemented a mandate for aircraft to be equipped with satellite-based navigation receivers that are compatible with the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN).
Air India Boeing 787. Photo: Air India.
GAGAN—jointly developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Indian Space Research Organization and Raytheon—is a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) designed to allow aircraft equipped with SBAS receivers to fly en route navigation and non-precision approaches without vertical guidance within Indian airspace.
“AAI will explore opportunities to incentivize the airlines by way of concessions in ANS charges for getting their existing aircraft retrofitted with GAGAN receivers,” India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation notes in the new national civil aviation policy.
GAGAN works by augmenting and relaying data from GPS satellites with the help of two augmentation satellites and 15 earth-based reference stations. The system first went live in Indian airspace in July 2015.