NEW DELHI, March 24: India is developing its own satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) for communication, navigation and guidance of aircraft in their respective airspace and surrounding areas.

A technology demonstrator for the Indian SBAS, called IGNOS, is being developed jointly by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the work on it had started in August last year, Director General Civil Aviation H S Khola told reporters here.

The other countries developing similar systems are the United States (WAAS), European Union (AGNOS) and Japan (MSAS), he said.

The Indian project, which will incur an expenditure of Rs800 million, has a time-frame of 42 months and “once proven, it will be upgraded for initial operational capabilities,” Khola said.

Pointing towards the “inherent limitations” of the existing ground-based navigation systems, he said these “restricted the operation of aircraft which now have to compulsorily operate on point-to-point routes based on the availability of ground-based navigation aids”.—APP