Pakistan’s national space agency SUPARCO (Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission) has achieved a major milestone in navigation technology with the successful launch of its Pak-SBAS satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) device and service.
The Pak-SBAS navigation service was rigorously tested in the extreme desert conditions of Cholistan during Cholistan Desert Rally 2026. The Cholistan desert experinces high speeds, unpredictable routes, and the absence of visual landmarks that demand exceptional positioning accuracy and signal reliability for autos and motorcycles.
Throughout the rally, Pak-SBAS demonstrated remarkable performance by delivering highly precise location data, stable signal continuity, and integrated route tracking.
By applying SBAS corrections, the system significantly reduced positioning errors compared to conventional GNSS technologies, offering rally drivers and navigation teams a new level of confidence essential for competitive desert racing.
According to a SUPARCO spokesperson, the Pak-SBAS technology holds vast potential beyond motorsports. It is expected to enhance disaster response operations through accurate tracking of rescue teams and affected areas, improve transport efficiency via real-time vehicle positioning, and strengthen aviation safety with more reliable navigation support.
The system also will benefit the surveying and mapping sectors by minimizing positional inaccuracies and reducing project costs.
Three decades after it first entered popular culture during the Gulf War, even a cursory review of articles about GPS aimed at a mass audience still will reveal a plethora of inaccuracies and misunderstandings, ranging from the trivial to the fundamental. Among my pet peeves, some for 20 years, are statements to the effect that GPS:
1. is a tracking technology
2. is the only such system
3. is responsible for routing errors
4. can operate indoors
5. receivers “talk” to the satellites
6. relies on triangulation
7. has 24 satellites in orbit
(For those of you picking up this magazine who are new to satellite navigation, the correct versions of those statements are below.)
Matteo Luccio
Additionally, GPS is taken for granted, with hardly any recognition for the engineers, technicians, U.S. Air Force service members and others who make the miracle happen, and for the fact that U.S. taxpayers foot the nearly $2 billion annual bill for the system, which is offered free to users worldwide. (All GPS program funding comes from general U.S. tax revenues. The bulk of the program is budgeted through the U.S. Department of Defense, which has primary responsibility for developing, acquiring, operating, sustaining and modernizing GPS. The U.S. Department of Transportation is responsible for funding the extra costs associated with new, civilian GPS upgrades beyond the second and third civil signals, and agencies with unique GPS requirements are responsible for funding them.)
While not as deadly as those about vaccines or as consequential as those about elections, misstatements about GPS lead to public confusion about threats to privacy and threats to the system. To help secure GPS, it behooves those of us who understand it the most to help educate the rest about it and correct misstatements, misunderstandings and misperceptions.
Tracking a person, vehicle or other object requires pairing a GPS receiver with a transmitter, typically a cellular phone.
It is one of four complete global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), the other three being the Russian GLONASS, the European Galileo and the Chinese BeiDou-3. There are also two regional systems, one Indian and one Japanese.
Routing errors are caused by bad map data or bad routing algorithms.
It requires a clear view of at least four satellites, unimpeded by terrain, buildings, roofs or even dense tree canopies.
GPS receivers are just that and have neither the need nor the ability to transmit messages back to the satellites.
Triangulation determines position by measuring angles. By contrast, GNSS determine position by measuring distances (between receivers and satellites), which is called trilateration.
The are currently 30 operational GPS satellites and the number varies as some satellites are temporarily removed from service, older ones are decommissioned, and new ones are placed in orbit. Find the current status of the constellation here.
Microsoft Azure customers now have access to HERE Location Services within its self-hosted Azure environments. HERE is providing a new set of application programming interfaces (APIs) for developers to build location-aware applications.
Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service for building, testing, deploying and managing applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centers.
According to HERE, HERE Location Services such as Routing, Geocoding and Map Tiles APIs offer developers useful tools while ensuring high performance for an application’s most critical processes.
Software developers rely on the accuracy and scale of HERE Location Services to incorporate core location-oriented components into the enterprise-grade applications they build and manage, the company said.
The HERE Location Services available for self-hosting in Azure Virtual Machine environments are:
Routing – provides access to and use of global, real-time and historical traffic information.
Forward Geocoder and Reverse Geocoder – provides comprehensive coverage in 196 countries and several territories with a high-precision mapping of geo-coordinates or addresses.
Map Tiles– shows fresh day-time map tiles in multiple styles (for example, base and aerial) including rendered live-traffic tiles for flow overlay.
Applications for HERE Location Services include the following.
Fleet management and emergency services
Create safe and efficient routing solutions for multiple vehicle types
Provide the most efficient routing options based on real-time traffic conditions
Seamless mobility
Provide routing options for pedestrians and public transportation
Help cities run more smoothly with improved traffic flow and transportation network usage
Business intelligence:
Understand trends and behavior of citizens in relation to their location and mobility patterns
Understand shifting market dynamics to inform real-estate investments
Verify insurance claims and authenticate transactions
HERE Location Services are available to Azure customers who want to manage and deliver highly available location-based services. The self-hosted architecture ensures maximum availability and resiliency for Azure customers running critical business applications that rely on “always-on” location services.
“Location anchors our connected world and HERE Location Services enable industries to solve complex challenges while delivering valuable new products and experiences,” said Mithun Dhar, General Manager, Developer Relations at HERE Technologies. “Demands on business require flexibility in software architecture, and HERE is proud to offer robust and high-quality location services to customers operating across public cloud, self-hosted or hybrid environments.”
HERE Location Services are also available as Serverless Functions on the Azure Marketplace. For the latest Azure developer content, go to HERE | Azure Marketplace.
