ISRO's NaVIC Navigation Tech Gets 3GPP Nod; Ready For Commercial Use

When it comes to navigation GPS, the global positioning system developed by the US Government is the global standard. Though there are other services like Gallilion and Baidu, but they haven't been successful in capturing the market except for their origin. However, the Government of India has been working with its own navigation system called NaVIC, which is now ready for commercial use.

According to a report from ToI, India's own navigation technology NaVIC has been approved for commercialization by 3GPP -- the global standard body for mobile and telephony protocols. With this permission in hand, NaVIC can be integrated into devices like smartphones and tablets.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project or 3GPP approved the use of Rel-16 LTE and Rel-17 5G NR specifications to NaVIC in a meeting held at California. Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India or TSDSI. This technology was developed by the Indian space agency ISRO.

The NaVIC or Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) can be used to offer specific positioning information for marine, terrestrial, and areal navigation. The technology can also be used to monitor vehicles and can be incorporated into electronic devices.

NaVIC Still Has A Lot To Prove

Unlike GPS, NaVIC just has eight satellites, which can cover 1,500KM distance and these satellites will be geosynchronous with one another. Each of these satellites will have three rubidium atomic clocks to provide the most accurate location data. As of now, the navigation data from NaVIC will be limited to the Indian territory, unlike GPS which is available from Greenland to Ireland.

In A Statement K Sivan, Head Of ISRO Said

We are extremely happy to know about the 3GPP approval of NaVIC is fully operational and is doing a great job. Currently, eight satellites are already in orbit. Seven satellites are being used for navigation purposes and one satellite only for messaging purposes. Some apps based on NaVIC are already functional and being immensely used. Soon, we will bring out more NaVIC apps that will benefit to the common man.

Via