Satellite Navigation to Play More Integral Role Due to Air and Waterway Crowding, says ABI Research

OYSTER BAY, N.Y., Oct. 13, 2005/Satnews Daily/ — Satellite-based navigation systems for aviation and marine applications are a relatively small market, but one that will become increasingly important as more and more aircraft and vessels crowd the planet's air and sea lanes.

There are between 7000 and 8000 commercial aircraft in the United States, according to a new study from ABI Research. Add in large numbers of private planes, about a thousand military "unmanned aerial vehicles" and some 17 million recreational boats, and the market for aviation and marine satellite navigation (at present meaning GPS) sounds large. But it pales in comparison with the 230 million vehicles on US roads that form the potential market for land-based navigation.

"As the world gets more and more populated, how do we control our roads, airways and waterways efficiently? Knowing one's position is critical to that," says ABI Research senior analyst Robert LaGuerra. "Some new aviation GPS systems approach Class 1 instrument landing systems (ILS) in their ability to get a plane down a glide path and on the runway. This means the possibility of opening up many more airports that don't have million-dollar ILS, more days of the year."

LaGuerra believes that GPS systems - and the European Galileo equivalent scheduled to launch in 2008 - will also permit tighter vertical and horizontal separation between planes.

The new ABI study discusses current and future marine and aviation market trends and presents forecasts for marine and aviation handheld and panel-mounted GPS receivers for the period 2004-2012.

The research also suggests that it is the enhanced graphical capabilities of newer GPS systems, rather than their accuracy, that are driving adoption, and that a new trend will see removable GPS units that can be transferred between boats and cars.

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