More Nations Crave Independent Satellite Navigation Systems

Summerland Key, Florida: Europe is not the only focus of efforts to build a rival to GPS, the U.S. constellation of navigation satellites. U.S. control of the world's only fully functional satellite navigation system is fueling efforts by China, Japan and India to develop alternatives to GPS for regional coverage, and in China's case as a stepping stone to a global system, U.S. satellite navigation experts said.
"There is a symbolic reason to deploy these systems. That is the idea that they would like to be independent of any dependencies on U.S. controlled assets," said Brad Parkinson, a retired U.S. Air Force officer and one of the original architect's of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), corresponding by email.
Parkinson is among those who consider unfounded the fears expressed by leaders of other countries in recent years that the United States would deny commercial access to free GPS signals in a crisis, or as an economic warfare tool. All strategy considerations aside, the collateral effect would be to grind U.S. industry to a halt, Parkinson said.
In India, space officials have two navigation projects in mind. They plan to launch a system of geosynchronous satellites to improve the accuracy of GPS signals for use at Indian airports and airspace. Development of the GEO Augmented Navigation system appears to have U.S. blessing. Raytheon, based in Waltham, Mass., is providing the ground terminals.
In 2006, India also announced it would develop an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System by putting a seven-satellite constellation in place by 2011.
In some ways the orbital architecture debates that are no doubt taking place in China, India and Japan might mirror those that took place in the United States in the 1970s.
16/05/07 Ben Iannotta/Space.com

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Categories: Foreign May 2007, General Aviation May 2007, New May 2007, Safety May 2007