Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand and Geoscience Australia are working in collaboration, under the Australia New Zealand Science, Research and Innovation Cooperation Agreement (ANZSRICA), to develop, deploy and operate SouthPAN as the first SBAS in the Southern Hemisphere.
New Zealand and Australia have jointly explored the feasibility of SouthPAN. Between 2017 and 2019, a trial established that SouthPAN improved GPS accuracy, improved signal integrity, and reduced commercial costs.
Find out more about the SBAS test bed trial and read the EY economic benefits report.
Toitū Te Whenua and Geoscience Australia are jointly responsible for SouthPAN. The operational capability of SouthPAN is delivered by Lockheed Martin Australia, GMV and Inmarsat Australia.
Building the SouthPAN infrastructure
Inmarsat Australia has been contracted by Geoscience Australia as part of the SouthPAN partnership to broadcast SouthPAN services from a new Inmarsat I-8 satellite.
The new SouthPAN satellite service (SouthPAN GEO Payload 01, known as SGP-01) on the Inmarsat I-8 satellite will replace the Inmarsat satellite I 4F1 acquired as part of the SouthPAN test-bed trial.
SouthPAN signals are expected to broadcast services over a new Inmarsat I-8 satellite navigation system for 15 years, starting in 2027.
A second new SouthPAN satellite service is also being procured to provide redundancy and resilience in SouthPAN. This will ensure continuous broadcast of SouthPAN services, enabling the development and use of critical applications relying on SouthPAN.
The ground segment of SouthPAN, including the network of ground reference stations and satellite uplink facilities, is being built by Lockheed Martin Australia as part of their separate contract with Geoscience Australia and Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand.
The Inmarsat 4F1 satellite will be used to provide SouthPANservices until its replacement with two new satellites (Credit: Inmarsat)
Contact us
We’re always interested in hearing from users about how they are using SouthPAN and how they found the experience. Your feedback is playing a crucial role in the success of this initiative, so don’t hesitate to contact us to share information, ask questions or to talk about integrating SouthPAN in your organisation.
Email southpan@linz.govt.nz