[SmartCat]

We are currently using GPS (Global Positioning System) powered by US Government's satellites. Although its free to use by any country, it helps to be on the good books of USA. When Russia attacked Georgia in 2008, it found out the hard way that depending on USA GPS system is not ideal - because USA blacked out GPS in the region of conflict (thereby affecting Russian military movements).

That's why Russia started developing their own GPS system for both civilian (road navigation) and military (satellite guided missiles/bombs) use - called the GLONASS.

Both China and EU have/plan to have their own satellite guided navigation systems - called COMPASS and GALILEO respectively.

And now, it looks like India is working on a similar satellite navigation system.-

India to launch first navigation satellite in June
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-...1-1027588.aspx

India will launch in June the first of the seven Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) into the earth orbit to provide real-time position, navigation and time services to multiple users, the space agency chief said Saturday.

"We are preparing to launch the first of the navigation satellites constellation in June to provide position accuracy better than 10 metres over India and the region extending up to 1,500km around the sub-continent," state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Radhakrishnan told reporters on the margins of a space event in Bangalore.

Further reading -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_...tellite_System

[neel385]

Whatever happened to the GAGAN system? It was in the news for a while, but haven't heard anything in the recent past. Also, India is supposed to be a partner in the EU Galelio system, what's the news on that?

[swapnilup]

Wikipedia says GAGAN will be fully operational in 2013-14. Could this launch be part of GAGAN itself?

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by neel385

Whatever happened to the GAGAN system? It was in the news for a while, but haven't heard anything in the recent past. Also, India is supposed to be a partner in the EU Galelio system, what's the news on that?

Looks like GAGAN is to be used in civial aviation only.
Hope that our own GPS system becomes operational soon with a fancy name, instead of Irnss... whatever it is.

[audioholic]

Don't think this is really happening. Saying this as my father is in ISRO, and he is the DPD of satellite applications. Currently the only projects being talked about and on the road to implementation are Chandrayaan-2 and a Mars mission. This is the first time I heard about a GPS satellite. Not sure if it is developed by some other centre or body.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by smartcat

And now, it looks like India is working on a similar satellite navigation system.-

India to launch first navigation satellite in June
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-...1-1027588.aspx

Dont hold your breath if you want to use this. It's a very different system from the American based GPS. Which means, as far as I know/can tell, that all the devices need to be made specifically for the Indian GPS.

So your typical US GPS based Garmin, Nuvi, Magellan, TomTom, Iphone etc wont work on this system.

Not sure how they are going to do that. I'm sure they'll develop Indian receivers for the military. But for civilian applications? Device manufacturing is all about scale and volume. You need to mass produce these to get them to a reasonable cost level.

Jeroen

[joybhowmik]

If India were to indeed launch its own GPS satellites - would seven be enough? I thought the minimum required for global coverage was 24 satellites, with additional satellites needed to improve precision of receivers. Seven satellites might just be the minimum needed for the subcontinent and adjoining areas.

Secondly, the Indian government cannot mandate the use of its own GPS signals for civilian use and expect to be able to enforce this. This is because, the alternate NAVSTAR is free to air, and already provides military grade signal, and a proliferation of GPS receivers in the open market already support this.

[Bluu]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Dont hold your breath if you want to use this. It's a very different system from the American based GPS. Which means, as far as I know/can tell, that all the devices need to be made specifically for the Indian GPS.

My cellphone uses the GLONASS navigation system. Does this mean it will not work in the US or once the Indian navigation system becomes active?

[BuildUpGypsy]

GAGAN is meant for Air Navigation alone -that too in the Indian territory only- and is actually an enhancement to the existing system. It cannot be used for surface navigation. (Gagan = Sky )

[neel385]

Originally Posted by BuildUpGypsy

GAGAN is meant for Air Navigation alone -that too in the Indian territory only- and is actually an enhancement to the existing system. It cannot be used for surface navigation. (Gagan = Sky )

GAGAN really has little to do with "sky" as you suggest. GAGAN stands for GPS Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation. It essentially is a Wide Area Augmentation System and since the correction signal is transmitted through satellites, there should be no problem in using it for terrestrial applications.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

If India were to indeed launch its own GPS satellites - would seven be enough? I thought the minimum required for global coverage was 24 satellites, with additional satellites needed to improve precision of receivers. Seven satellites might just be the minimum needed for the subcontinent and adjoining areas.

Secondly, the Indian government cannot mandate the use of its own GPS signals for civilian use and expect to be able to enforce this. This is because, the alternate NAVSTAR is free to air, and already provides military grade signal, and a proliferation of GPS receivers in the open market already support this.

It does not provide global coverage. The R in IRNSS stands for Regional.
And yes those 7 satellites cover only a small area. Very different set up from GPS. Three of these satellites will be in a geo stationary position.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_...tellite_System

Jeroen

Originally Posted by Bluu

My cellphone uses the GLONASS navigation system. Does this mean it will not work in the US or once the Indian navigation system becomes active?

GLONASS provides global coverage, similar to GPS. So it'll work fine in the US or anywhere else on the planet for that matter.

As long as GLONASS is on air it will work. The Indian navigation system is just another one.

Interestingly enough I just read that Iphone support allready GPS and GLONASS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLONASS

[sajusherief]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Interestingly enough I just read that Iphone support allready GPS and GLONASS.

In fact many manufacturers (samsung, Nexus 4 etc) have already migrated to GLONASS because of their quick locking capabilities and accuracy.

[rrsteer]

Any idea what is the business model for satellite navigation? What i mean to ask how does an organisation that runs the satellite earn money? I understand GPS & GLONASS are essentially military in character, but GALILEO is a civilian initiative, so how will it make money?

My other question would be who are the leading sat-nav service providers in india, across categories?

[Guite]

I too would like to understand the business model of GPS satellites. I have a turn-by-turn navigation system preloaded to my Moto Milestone. So I have already paid Motorola for the software and map. Who pays for the uplinking and data transmission between phone and satellite when I use this navigation system?

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by rrsteer

Any idea what is the business model for satellite navigation? What i mean to ask how does an organisation that runs the satellite earn money? I understand GPS & GLONASS are essentially military in character, but GALILEO is a civilian initiative, so how will it make money?

My other question would be who are the leading sat-nav service providers in india, across categories?

The GPS receiver manufacturers pay a "royalty" to the GPS firm via the "chip".
Different chip = different resolution = different royalty paid.
Of course even I am not aware of the actual money flow.

Originally Posted by Guite

I too would like to understand the business model of GPS satellites. I have a turn-by-turn navigation system preloaded to my Moto Milestone. So I have already paid Motorola for the software and map. Who pays for the uplinking and data transmission between phone and satellite when I use this navigation system?

There is no Upload to satellite.
Imagine the GPS satellite as clouds raining their signal (coordinates and time) down on earth.
Your receiver catches these "rain drops" from multiple satellite, and calculates the latitude/longitude/elevation on earth.
The phone downloads the google map using internet, and marks your position based on the latitude/longitude calculated.
In case of Nokia, you may the map pre-loaded on your phone/device.