India’s satellite-based navigation and augmentation services sector appears headed for a higher growth trajectory with the proposed ignition of a policy push towards effective development, operation and maintenance of such systems.
The Department of Space (DoS) plans to devise a “comprehensive and substantive” national policy for satellite-based navigation—the Indian Satellite Navigation Policy - 2021 (SATNAV Policy - 2021).
Its draft has now been hosted on the website of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for public consultation after which it would be placed before the Union Cabinet for final approval.
It seeks to “Achieve self-reliance in satellite-based navigation and augmentation services with emphasis on assuring availability & quality, enhancing usage, working towards progressive evolution of the services and promoting research & development”.
In the last few decades, there has been a phenomenal growth in the number of applications that rely on Position, Velocity and Time (PVT) services provided by space-based navigation systems, it was noted.
With the advent of information and mobile phone technology, crores of users across India rely heavily on PVT based applications in virtually every walk of life.
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are space-based navigation systems that provide navigation signals across the globe.
Currently, there are four GNSS—GPS from the USA; GLONASS from Russia; Galileo from European Union & BeiDou from China—offering PVT solution globally.
In addition, there are two regional navigation satellite systems—NavIC from India and QZSS from Japan offering navigation signals for the defined coverage area.