Europe has put up another two spacecraft in its Galileo sat-nav system. The satellites were launched on a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana.With the successful launch, Europe came a step closer to setting up its own satellite navigation system. The European Space Agency’s Galileo project is meant as a European Union alternative to the U.S. Global Positioning System. Galileo is due to reach full operational capability by 2020, Joerg Hahn, head of the Galileo system procurement service.
The Galileo project suffered a setback last year after two satellites were set in an incorrect orbit. ESA plans to launch two further Galileo satellites this year. The satellites for Galileo are being made by a German-UK consortium.
GAGAN - Points to Note
- GAGAN is a satellite based navigation system that will serve as a low cost substitute for Instrument Landing System (ILS)
- It provides autonomous, high precision geo-spatial location information of the user in terms of latitude, longitude and height along with velocity and time.
- GAGAN was jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), at an investment of Rs 774 crore.
- The benefits of GAGAN include improved efficiency, direct routes, increased fuel savings, approach with vertical guidance at runways, significant cost savings due to withdrawal of ground aids and reduced workload of flight crew and Air Traffic Controllers.
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