“I have important news to share with you. It’s about the United Kingdom (UK),” said Orak.
“What is it?” Felix replied.
“A London satellite company called Inmarsat is trying to improve the performance of GPS signals received in the UK,” Orak informed, “GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It is a satellite-based navigation system (sat-nav). It uses artificial satellites to navigate.”
“Oh, I know GPS! Do you remember when we were exploring the streets of Greece and got lost? GPS helped us navigate and reach the correct location!” Verum said.
“Yes, yes, I remember now,” said Scorch and pointedly looked at Felix, “We were looking for some rare plant for someone here and we got lost.”
Felix smiled sheepishly.
“How is Inmarsat trying to improve the GPS signals?” Scorch said.
“And why?” Verum added.
Orak said, “Due to its decision to leave the European Union (EU), the UK lost access to Europe’s sat-nav systems Galileo and EGNOS. The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) increases and improves GPS services. In common terms, it’s called the overlay system. Inmarsat is testing just this: a similar overlay system.
In the standard navigation system, there can be errors. The overlay system can help reduce these errors. From meters, the errors will reduce to centimeters!”
“How will the overlay system help improve the signals?” Verum wanted to know.
“It can be used to give planes a secure landing in bad weather. It will also help driverless trains, boats, trucks, buses, cars, etc. It can be used for agriculture too. The system can guide tractors to know exactly where to drill the seeds or add the fertilizer,” answered Orak.
Orak added, “Inmarsat’s system is still in a trial phase. It is using an aging satellite over the Atlantic to send accurate data.”