SBAS Interoperability

EGNOS
Title	SBAS Interoperability
Author(s)	GMV.
Level	Basic
Year of Publication	2011

In the mid-1990s, three regions took up the gauntlet to develop SBAS systems: Europe, the US, and Japan.

In the United States of America, the Federal Aviation Administration has taken the lead for developing its Wide Area Augmentation System or WAAS. The WAAS signal was made available for non-aviation users in 2000. It currently delivers accuracies of one meter horizontal and two meters vertical and supports aviation precision approach (APV-1) performance. An Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for aviation use started in July 2003 and its Full Operational Capability (FOC) is planned for the end of 2007.

Japan is developing an SBAS founded on its Multi-function Transport Satellite (MTSAT) called the MTSAT Satellite Augmentation System or MSAS. The first phase based on single geostationary satellite coverage is planned for 2005 while the second phase based on dual geostationary satellite coverage is planned for 2006. We expect MSAS to deliver a Non Precision Approach capability, and this could be enhanced to provide precision approach performances (e.g. APV-1).

Other regions are also interested in providing SBAS services although their plans are less advanced than Europe, the US and Japan. NAV Canada’s SBAS (known as CWAAS) strategy is based on an extension of the US WAAS coverage by deploying a network of reference stations and linking these to the US WAAS master control stations. India’s SBAS, GAGAN (GPS and GEO Augmented Navigation), is being co-ordinated by the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Airports Authority of India. They are planning for an initial operational capability in 2006/7.