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Tag: KASS

  • Korea’s KASS now certified and operational

    Korea’s KASS now certified and operational

    Image: imaginima/ iStock / Getty Images Plus/ Getty Images
    Image: imaginima/ iStock / Getty Images Plus/ Getty Images

    The Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS), designed and implemented by Thales Alenia Space, has been officially certified by Korean national authorities and has entered operational service. The system was developed in partnership with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) on behalf of the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT).

    The project has received support from various international and European entities, including the European Commission, the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the French Space Agency (CNES).

    KASS, operational via the MEASAT-3d geostationary satellite launched in 2022, will soon be enhanced by the addition of KOREASAT 6A. It is currently under development by Thales Alenia Space for KT SAT Corporation, South Korea’s leading satellite communications operator.

    The addition of KOREASAT 6A — equipped with a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) payload by Thales Alenia Space — aims to improve the system’s service continuity and operational availability.

    Designed to meet international standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), KASS will initially prioritize aircraft applications and focus on Safety of Life services critical during flight phases, including landing. This focus is intended to enhance flight safety and efficiency while minimizing the environmental impact of aviation. Additionally, KASS is designed to be interoperable with other SBAS satellite navigation systems worldwide to offer seamless flight safety across different zones.

    KASS, the second SBAS system developed by Thales Alenia Space following EGNOS (the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System), is designed to optimize GPS constellation performance and includes upgrades compatible with the Galileo and Korean Positioning System (KPS) constellations. By enhancing the integrity, availability, continuity of services and positioning accuracy, KASS aims to reduce GPS positioning errors from the current 15 to 33 m to approximately 1 m across Korea.

    Future expansions of the KASS services are anticipated to include public safety, road transport, shipping, and scientific applications.

  • South Korea launches KASS satellite to augment GPS

    South Korea launches KASS satellite to augment GPS

    South Korea has successfully launched a precision aviation satellite Thursday by leasing space on Malaysia’s MEASAT-3d communication satellite for 15 years, reports The Korea Herald. The first satellite for the Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS) will improve the accuracy and reliability of GPS signals for pilots, increasing airline flight safety.

    The satellite lifted off from Guiana Space Center in Kourou in French Guiana at 6:50 a.m. Thursday (Seoul time), and successfully separated from the rocket at around 7:18 a.m. after the fairing and first stage rocket separations.

    In development since 2014, the KASS system can improve the GPS position error to 1.0 to 1.6 meters from the current 15-33 meter level in real time to ensure positioning reliability throughout the country.

    The government plans to begin a pilot service around December before its full-fledged operation next year.

    South Korea is the seventh country to have a geosynchronous satellite system officially registered with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The others are  the United States, Russia, China, the European Union, India and Japan.

    The Korea Augmentation Satellite System will improve airline safety over Korea. (Photo: ugurhan /iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)
    The Korea Augmentation Satellite System will improve airline safety over Korea.
    (Photo: ugurhan /iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)

  • Augmented satnav meeting focuses on future development

    The 6th Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems Interoperability Working Group (SBAS IWG) took place Feb. 5-7 in Delhi, India.

    During the meeting, SBAS developers and operators were joined by users of the systems, with representatives of airlines, aircraft makers and avionics manufacturers. About 50 people in total attended the meeting.

    “Satellite-based augmentation systems deliver the necessary accuracy, integrity, availability and service continuity for aircraft to be able to rely on them though all phases of flight, from cruising in the air to being guided down for landing,” said navigation engineer Didier Flament, head of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) EGNOS and SBAS division, representing ESA at the SBAS IWG.

    The meeting covered the Southern Positioning Augmentation Network (SPAN), which had been born since IWG’s previous gathering six months ago. SPAN, a regional SBAS program, covers Australia and New Zealand.

    The meeting also covered the progress of the four SBAS currently under definition or development: China’s Beidou SBAS, BDSBAS, represented by the China Satellite Navigation Office; South Korea’s KASS, represented by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute; the African and Indian Ocean SBAS, represented by the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar; and the Russian Federation’s System for Differential Corrections and Monitoring (SDCM), represented by Russian Space Systems, RSS.

    Current systems are mostly based around the U.S. GPS system (except for SDCM using Russia’s Glonass and BDSBAS using China’s Beidou) but plans are being laid to move to a dual-frequency, multi-constellation version making use of Europe’s Galileo, China’s Beidou and Russia’s Glonass satnav systems later this decade, IWG said.

    Finally, the meeting touched on SBAS research and development, including applying SBAS to Europe’s railways.

    Today, there are 10 satellite-based augmentation systems for satnav that are either in operation or active development, IWG added. The group is working to ensure that the future evolutions of all these systems will operate on a similar basis with common technical requirements, allowing the easy transition of continent-crossing air traffic from one system to another.

  • South Korea, Thales to develop SBAS for aviation

    South Korea and France’s Thales Group will jointly develop an advanced Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) for GPS by 2021.

    The country’s state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) will sign a $40 million deal with Thales Group on Oct. 26, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

    The new SBAS, dubbed KASS (Korean Augmentation Satellite System), especially will help reduce errors in aviation GPS, which currently occur at a rate of one in 5 million and by up to 16 meters horizontally and 20 meters vertically.

    “By reducing the error and providing more accurate location of aircraft by using satellites, the SBAS is expected to help set the shortest air route possible while also helping reduce the cost of fuel for flights and thus expanding their capacities,” the ministry said in a press release.

    A separate agreement will be signed with the European Aviation Safety Agency to jointly verify the new GPS augmentation system following its development.

    KASS will rely on EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System) developed by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for the European Commission, with the European Space Agency (ESA) as contracting authority. The EGNOS system is operating in Europe since 2009 for Safety of Life services.

    South Korea will initially be using KASS to provide aeronautical applications, including Safety of Life services so that it can be used during different flight phases, especially landings. It will eventually extend these services to other applications, including maritime, road and rail.

    “Our first export success with this sophisticated and powerful navigation system is the upshot of Thales Alenia Space’s involvement with Europe’s satnav projects since the outset, in 1996,” said Jean Loïc Galle, president and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “We are drawing on 20 years of experience to help the Korean space agency, and allow government bodies in the country to develop applications that will improve its people’s comfort and safety for all types of transportation.”

    Thales Alenia Space’s contract with KARI concerns the supply of the ground infrastructure. It will initially operate via a relay provided by an existing geostationary satellite, and it will be interoperable with other SBAS worldwide, which guarantee air traffic safety when planes move between different zones. KARI and Thales Alenia Space will be applying an approach based on partnership, which means that an integrated French-Korean team will be in charge of the project.