India’s own domestic GPS (Global Positioning System), Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) has been approved by the international organization 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). NavIC is RPS i.e. Regional Navigation System. While others GPS have a position accuracy of 20-30 meters, the position accuracy of the NavIC is 5 meters, making it technically better than the all others GPS.

It has been approved by the international organization 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) which means that now manufacturers can mass-produce the Navigation device compatible with India’s own GPS NavIC. This means that soon you will be able to use Indian GPS in your mobile. It is also possible that you will get the app of NavIC in mobile along with GPS (Global Positioning System). It has been built by the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO).

International Approval :

During a meeting in California from September 16 to 20, the 3GPP has recognized the NavIC as having met international standards. 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) had approved the the inclusion of NavIC in Rel-16 LTE and Rel-17 5G NR specifications

Now the Telecommunication Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI) will combine these standards with national standards. After this, NavIC will start appearing on your mobile instead of American GPS.

ISRO chief Statement on NavIC :

ISRO Chief Dr. K. Sivan has told Times of India that he is very happy that 3GPP has given recognition to the NavIC. He said that NavIC is working perfectly. For this, our 8 satellites are deployed over India. Seven are for satellite navigation. One is for satellite messaging. Some apps based on NavIC are already working, while some will start soon. Soon we will launch NavIC based app. So that, the common man can get the benefit of it.

People are calling it NavIC as native GPS, but it cannot be called GPS. Because it will work only on India. For this, ISRO has placed 8 satellites in the orbit of the earth. Their full name is – Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) or NavIC. This will give you better navigation than GPS anywhere in India. Also, accurate positioning up to 1500 km outside the country’s borders will be known.

The NavIC will look exactly like the American GPS, but its quality will be better than the GPS. NaVIC will provide accurate navigation data of Sea, land and air. It will be useful in disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, integration with mobile phones, precise timing, mapping etc.

Importance of NavIC :

The potential of this indigenous system is being demonstrated in various application sectors viz. vehicle tracking system, mobiles, timing & power synchronization, fisheries, surveying etc. For example, all commercial vehicles registered from 1st April 2019 onwards are mandated to have vehicle trackers, which are also NavIC-enabled. More than 30 companies are manufacturing Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) or International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) approved NavIC-enabled vehicle trackers in India. Through the provision of these services, the dependence on the American-owned GPS could be obviated.

After this approval, Indian has joined the exclusive GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) club comprising the US, EU, China and Russia who depend on their own satellites for navigation application in their respective regions.

GPS system of other countries of the world :

The other countries which have their own indigenous system are Russia (GLONASS—Global Navigation Satellite System), European Union (Galileo Positioning System), Japan (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System—QZSS) and China (Beidou Navigation Satellite System—BDS).

America: GPS means global positioning system. There are 24 satellites.

GPS means global positioning system. There are 24 satellites. Russia: GLONASS means Global Navigation Satellite System. There are 24 satellites.

GLONASS means Global Navigation Satellite System. There are 24 satellites. Europe: A system named Galileo, there are 26 satellites in this system.

A system named Galileo, there are 26 satellites in this system. China: BDS means BeiDou Navigation Satellite System which has 30 satellites.

Also Read: ISRO map is better than Google

Tested by ISRO :

Earlier, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had provided 250 NavIC Messaging Receivers (NMR) to fishermen of Kerala respectively on a trial basis. This device provides Emergency Warning Alerts like cyclone, high waves and Tsunami and also provides information on Potential Fishing Zone and International boundary crossing based on the position information from NavIC.

ISRO have taken up the responsibility of providing NavIC devices on trial basis. Around 200 devices for Tamil Nadu and 250 devices for Kerala are distributed. A few numbers, viz. 8 and 10 respectively are provided to fishermen of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka States for trial exercises.