Australia and New Zealand will share a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) for GNSS by 2028, Minister for Resources Madeleine King announced on Friday.
The system, to be called the Southern Position Augmentation Network (SouthPAN) will increase accuracy of GNSS systems from the current 5-10 metres down to as little as 100 mm, providing capability for GNSS approaches with vertical guidance to LPV and LNAV/VNAV PBN RNP APCH approaches in supported areas.
SouthPAN will enable aircraft to make more reliable approaches to airports in remote areas, bringing safety benefits to operators such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
After Geoscience Australia signed a $1.2 billion contract with Lockheed Martin last week, Minister King said SouthPAN would provide essential satellite positioning services across Australasia for several industries including general aviation.
“SouthPAN will provide instant, accurate and reliable positioning to users across all of Australia and New Zealand’s land and maritime zones without the need for a mobile phone signal or internet,” she said.
“We’ve already demonstrated that industry and the community can use this for ground-breaking applications that increase safety, improve productivity and drive innovation across a broad range of industries.”
New Zealand Minister for Land Information Damien O’Connor said he believed the joint initiative will be a game-changer for the economies of both nations.
“SouthPAN provides crucial digital infrastructure for the future and we expect the actual benefits to be greater over the project’s lifespan. Beyond the horizon, new products on the market will use this infrastructure to create value in new ways for businesses and consumers,” he said.
“This technology was originally developed to support aviation safety, but as technology has advanced, the applications have expanded.
"It now has potential uses as varied as enabling accurate vehicle guidance for efficiencies in agriculture and horticulture management, tracking maritime shipments, and enabling navigation for drones and other unmanned vehicles."
According to the Australian Federal Government, SouthPAN will generate $6 billion in economic benefits to Australia over the next 30 years.
The SouthPAN project team, a collaboration between Geoscience Australia and Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), will work with Lockheed Martin Australia to establish a network of GNSS reference stations, a corrections processing facility and satellite uplink facilities that will enable accurate and reliable positioning signals to be transmitted from satellites to users.
SouthPAN is expected to be operating across both countries by 2028.