24 Jun 2019 Budget investment in GPS technology will help save lives

New Zealand Government commits $2.0M to as shared Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS)

An announcement from the Beehive on Sunday 23rd June confirmed New Zealand would be committing money towards the development of an Australasian SBAS capability. New Southern Sky team have been actively involved with supporting the development of a business case to support this initiative, with the safety benefits to aviation surrounding improved positional information on aircraft in the sky.

Read the release here: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/budget-investment-gps-technology-will-help-save-lives

Rob Arrowsmith, a New Southern Sky Working Group member, speaks to NewsHub about this game changing technology here: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/06/government-announces-2-million-investment-in-life-saving-gps-technology-for-emergency-services.html

What is SBAS?

SBAS is a satellite  based technology that improves the positional accuracy of any technology utilising GPS as a means of navigation or location services. SBAS works by monitoring signals from GNSS satellites, calculating corrections, and uploading them to a satellite in geostationary orbit for broadcast to aircraft and other users (as seen in the picture below).