The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) plans to implement the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) to provide India and neighbouring countries with the Position Navigation and Timing (PNT) service.

The government had approved the project, which would be implemented in the next few years. Initially, the system would have seven satellites and then 11.

At present, two space navigation systems operate in the world – the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass). The Galileo of Europe and China’s Compass (Beidou) are likely to start working in five to 10 years.

The Isro’s GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan) project was being implemented for the benefit of civil aviation. It would especially be useful in aircraft landing.