The Navigation with Indian Constellation or (NavIC), which consists of seven satellites and India’s version of the American GPS (global positioning system), will soon be integrated into Aadhaar enrolment devices, the Department of Space (DoS) told the Parliamentary Committee of Science and Technology.
“The department has facilitated successful conduction of field trials, and is providing technical expertise in finalisation of procurement specification of the devices,” it said in response to queries by the committee. The committee made its report public on Thursday.
Currently the Aadhaar enrolment kits that are used to collect and verify personal details are linked to GPS. NavIC offers two services: Standard Position Service (SPS) for civilian users and Restricted Service (RS) for strategic users. These two services are provided in both L5 (1176.45 MHz) and S band (2498.028 MHz). NavIC coverage area includes India and a region up to 1,500 km beyond the Indian boundary. Newer satellites will have an additional band called L1 that will be compatible with civilian use.
