IRNSS SCOFFS AT AMERICAN GPS
Did you know that the Global Positioning System used by almost all countries in the world is controlled by USA Govt? If they want, they can switch off this GPS without any explanation!
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which would be under complete control of the Indian government. The requirement of such a navigation system is driven because access to foreign government-controlled global navigation satellite systems is not guaranteed during hostile situations, as the Indian military experienced denial of services by America during the Kargil War.
Indian policy makers were jolted by this scant disregard to a defender against an aggressor, in question Pakistan, which plotted to seize legitimate Indian territory through deceit and subterfuge. The concept of India's own navigation germinated as a result of this unsavory incident with the Americans.
But, American monopoly on satellite based navigation is all set to end now, as ISRO will soon complete a cluster of India’s own satellite based navigation system by July 2016. IRNSS would have seven satellites, out of which four have already been placed in orbit. The IRNSS would provide two services, with the Standard Positioning Service open for civilian use, and the Restricted Service (an encrypted one) for authorized users (and for defence purposes).
A team of Finnish researchers describe the results of a recent successful campaign to track signals from the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System using a software designed receiver, the FGI-GSRx. Initial results indicate that, despite the receiver location well outside the satellites’ intended coverage area. Finland lies north of 60°N latitude more than 5,000 kilometers away from India. Astonishingly, the achieved accuracy was of 95% circular error probability (CEP), considering that only 2 IRNSS satellites were used in the position solution, the accuracy figures are consistent with a GPS-only scenario. Therefore, the impact of these results is considerable and interesting to the positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) research and user community even outside the intended service area of IRNSS.
This proves how powerful the IRNSS system really is, ISRO has been able to achieve such expansive range coverage with only 2 satellites whereas GPS & GLONSS have launched more than 24 satellites to cover the globe, hypothetically given the results of the Finnish experiment ISRO may be able to achieve global coverage with just 15-18 satellites. A truly remarkable achievement indeed. In view of this, IRNSS signals might be very useful in augmenting GPS and Galileo service in northern Europe.
The IRNSS constellation is designed as a stand-alone regional navigation system (confined to the Indian subcontinent, but surprises were galore as we just learn from the Finnish experiment)with a primary service area extending up to 1,500 kilometers from the Indian land mass. India’s IRNSS will use seven satellites, which would be operational from July, 2016. Besides providing a leading technological edge over GPS, IRNSS will enable handheld devices to receive seamless S-Band signals. Additionally, once a simple code is added in the mobile phones, they would be able to receive L-band signals as well.
A senior ISRO official said, “Both these L and S band signals received from seven satellite constellation of the IRNSS are being calculated by a special embedded software which reduces the errors caused by atmospheric disturbances significantly. This in turn gives a superior quality location accuracy than the American GPS system,”
Self Reliant India
During various situations such as natural disasters, a military operation or simply business requirements, we had to be dependent of America’s GPS platform to help navigate our operations. This made us completely dependent on a foreign entity, besides scares of data theft, data manipulation and espionage was another lurking and danger, a threat that could always rear its head unannounced.
With IRNSS, India will become part of that exclusive club to have its own satellite based navigation system.
Although some other countries do have their own such satellite based navigation systems, but they are not that efficient and hence, unreliable compared to GPS system.
“GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) is better than any Global Positioning System (GPS) as it ensures that at any given point in time, the measurements are reliable,” AS Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO, said on the sidelines GNSS users meet 2015.
“This has been our major focus. After completing it (the entire constellation), we are looking at how we can roll out in SAARC countries and later take it Global,” Kiran Kumar added.
China has their own BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, which is based on just two satellite constellations, compared to India’s 7. BeiDou is still under construction, and American GPS is the primary source for Chinese as of now.
Galileo is a European based satellite based navigation system, currently under development. The fully functional Galileo, which can act as an alternative to GPS will be operational only after 2020.
As of now, the only viable and reliable alternative to GPS is Russia’s GLONASS (GLObal NAvigation Satellite System), which can be regarded as GPS equivalent. They have a full orbital constellation of 24 satellites, which is as powerful as America’s GPS.
After GPS, and GLONASS, it would be India’s very own IRNSS which can be described as a formidable force to reckon with for satellite based navigation. This is a technological achievement beyond compare.
Did you know that the Global Positioning System used by almost all countries in the world is controlled by USA Govt? If they want, they can switch off this GPS without any explanation!
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which would be under complete control of the Indian government. The requirement of such a navigation system is driven because access to foreign government-controlled global navigation satellite systems is not guaranteed during hostile situations, as the Indian military experienced denial of services by America during the Kargil War.
Indian policy makers were jolted by this scant disregard to a defender against an aggressor, in question Pakistan, which plotted to seize legitimate Indian territory through deceit and subterfuge. The concept of India's own navigation germinated as a result of this unsavory incident with the Americans.
But, American monopoly on satellite based navigation is all set to end now, as ISRO will soon complete a cluster of India’s own satellite based navigation system by July 2016. IRNSS would have seven satellites, out of which four have already been placed in orbit. The IRNSS would provide two services, with the Standard Positioning Service open for civilian use, and the Restricted Service (an encrypted one) for authorized users (and for defence purposes).
A team of Finnish researchers describe the results of a recent successful campaign to track signals from the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System using a software designed receiver, the FGI-GSRx. Initial results indicate that, despite the receiver location well outside the satellites’ intended coverage area. Finland lies north of 60°N latitude more than 5,000 kilometers away from India. Astonishingly, the achieved accuracy was of 95% circular error probability (CEP), considering that only 2 IRNSS satellites were used in the position solution, the accuracy figures are consistent with a GPS-only scenario. Therefore, the impact of these results is considerable and interesting to the positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) research and user community even outside the intended service area of IRNSS.
This proves how powerful the IRNSS system really is, ISRO has been able to achieve such expansive range coverage with only 2 satellites whereas GPS & GLONSS have launched more than 24 satellites to cover the globe, hypothetically given the results of the Finnish experiment ISRO may be able to achieve global coverage with just 15-18 satellites. A truly remarkable achievement indeed. In view of this, IRNSS signals might be very useful in augmenting GPS and Galileo service in northern Europe.
The IRNSS constellation is designed as a stand-alone regional navigation system (confined to the Indian subcontinent, but surprises were galore as we just learn from the Finnish experiment)with a primary service area extending up to 1,500 kilometers from the Indian land mass. India’s IRNSS will use seven satellites, which would be operational from July, 2016. Besides providing a leading technological edge over GPS, IRNSS will enable handheld devices to receive seamless S-Band signals. Additionally, once a simple code is added in the mobile phones, they would be able to receive L-band signals as well.
A senior ISRO official said, “Both these L and S band signals received from seven satellite constellation of the IRNSS are being calculated by a special embedded software which reduces the errors caused by atmospheric disturbances significantly. This in turn gives a superior quality location accuracy than the American GPS system,”
Self Reliant India
During various situations such as natural disasters, a military operation or simply business requirements, we had to be dependent of America’s GPS platform to help navigate our operations. This made us completely dependent on a foreign entity, besides scares of data theft, data manipulation and espionage was another lurking and danger, a threat that could always rear its head unannounced.
With IRNSS, India will become part of that exclusive club to have its own satellite based navigation system.
Although some other countries do have their own such satellite based navigation systems, but they are not that efficient and hence, unreliable compared to GPS system.
“GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) is better than any Global Positioning System (GPS) as it ensures that at any given point in time, the measurements are reliable,” AS Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO, said on the sidelines GNSS users meet 2015.
“This has been our major focus. After completing it (the entire constellation), we are looking at how we can roll out in SAARC countries and later take it Global,” Kiran Kumar added.
China has their own BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, which is based on just two satellite constellations, compared to India’s 7. BeiDou is still under construction, and American GPS is the primary source for Chinese as of now.
Galileo is a European based satellite based navigation system, currently under development. The fully functional Galileo, which can act as an alternative to GPS will be operational only after 2020.
As of now, the only viable and reliable alternative to GPS is Russia’s GLONASS (GLObal NAvigation Satellite System), which can be regarded as GPS equivalent. They have a full orbital constellation of 24 satellites, which is as powerful as America’s GPS.
After GPS, and GLONASS, it would be India’s very own IRNSS which can be described as a formidable force to reckon with for satellite based navigation. This is a technological achievement beyond compare.
