GPS-based Airport Ground Station

Northrop Grumman’s Park Air Systems subsidiary has developed and installed at Brønnøysund Airport, Norway, ground-based elements of the world’s only certified global navigation satellite system for precision approach and landing. Park Air Systems provided the ground station system under contract awarded by Norwegian air navigation service provider, Avinor. The system is suited for use at airports where, due to the geographical conditions, it is not economically feasible to install a conventional instrument landing system. This technology will help improve safety particularly at the smaller regional airports in Norway and elsewhere. The NORMARC 8005 SCAT-I ground station receives and validates GPS signals and then transmits the calculated signal corrections and flight path data via a VHF data link. SCAT-I avionics uses the received signal to improve position accuracy and signal integrity along a defined flight path. One ground station can serve several approaches for both ends of the runway thereby creating a cost-effective solution. Under the delivery contract, Park Air Systems will also provide SCAT-I satellite-based landing systems at up to 25 airports over the next three years. The ground station at Brønnøysund Airport, located 500 miles north of Oslo on the Helgeland coast, was operationally certified in April 2007. Brønnøysund is the first airport in the world to use satellite-based landing guidance for passenger flights.