Beyond the sky: India's Gagan now finds uses in other fields like marine navigation
NEW DELHI: India has joined a select league with its “satellite-based augmentation system” Gagan becoming the first to be certified for the equatorial region, making it one of the few countries with an operational SBAS, govt said Wednesday. “Gagan reinforces India’s vision of technological self-reliance and global leadership in satellite navigation,” the aviation ministry said in a statement.
Gagan project has been fully operational since 2015. “Its latest achievement came in June 2026, when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) successfully conducted India’s first satellite-based landing system approach on a commercial jet aircraft using Gagan,” the ministry said. TOI had reported this on June 28, three days after the regulator had got the flight operated on an Airbus A320 into Udaipur on June 25.
What’s more while it was created primarily to safely guide commercial planes in the sky, the system is now finding uses in several other fields ranging from maritime navigation to telecom.
The reason: the joint Airports Authority of India (AAI)-Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) creation provides high-accuracy positioning and navigation capabilities that improves the accuracy and reliability of GPS signals. This is a big assurance in the times of massive GPS spoofing and jamming.
“(Gagan) enables more accurate positioning in coastal and offshore waters. It supports intelligent transport systems and fleet management for road transport and highways. For railways, it improves operational efficiency and safety. In disaster management, it enables accurate location tracking during emergencies and natural disasters,” the aviation ministry said in a detailed statement on Gagan issued Wednesday.
Gagan project has been fully operational since 2015. “Its latest achievement came in June 2026, when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) successfully conducted India’s first satellite-based landing system approach on a commercial jet aircraft using Gagan,” the ministry said. TOI had reported this on June 28, three days after the regulator had got the flight operated on an Airbus A320 into Udaipur on June 25.
What’s more while it was created primarily to safely guide commercial planes in the sky, the system is now finding uses in several other fields ranging from maritime navigation to telecom.
The reason: the joint Airports Authority of India (AAI)-Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) creation provides high-accuracy positioning and navigation capabilities that improves the accuracy and reliability of GPS signals. This is a big assurance in the times of massive GPS spoofing and jamming.
“(Gagan) enables more accurate positioning in coastal and offshore waters. It supports intelligent transport systems and fleet management for road transport and highways. For railways, it improves operational efficiency and safety. In disaster management, it enables accurate location tracking during emergencies and natural disasters,” the aviation ministry said in a detailed statement on Gagan issued Wednesday.
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