SouthPAN

What is SouthPAN?

• The Southern Positioning Augmentation Network (SouthPAN) is a joint initiative of the Australian and New Zealand governments to provide a Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) for Australia and New Zealand.
• SouthPAN early Open Services became live on 26 September 2022.
• SouthPAN is the first SBAS in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

How does SouthPAN work?

• Similar to other SBAS systems, the SouthPAN system consists of a single geostationary satellite and one ground station.
• Early Open Services will use a single, dedicated, uplink facility to transmit the data stream to the geostationary satellite.
• Additional uplink facilities will be deployed to provide redundancy and support new satellites in the future.
• Early Open Services will transmit data on the L1 (1575.420 MHz) and L5 (1176.450 MHz) frequencies.
• Additional satellites will be added to provide another navigation frequency of 1207.140 MHz.
• When complete, SouthPAN will include a total of two satellites in geostationary orbit.

SouthPAN Service Area

• SouthPAN is intended to provide improved Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) capabilities to End-Users in Australia and New Zealand.

 

SouthPAN Satellite Map

• PRN is the satellites actual Psuedo-Random Noise code.
• NMEA is the satellite number referenced by most GPS receivers (NMEA = PRN - 87).
• View a list of available SBAS satellites.

Do I need SouthPAN?

• SouthPAN is the first SBAS in the Southern Hemisphere.
• SouthPAN will enable users with a receiver that tracks GPS L1 C/A signals to improve their position accuracy to better than ≤3m in the horizontal and ≤4 m in the vertical (95% confidence interval).
• SouthPAN will enable users with a receiver that tracks GPS L1 C/A and L5 signals, and Galileo E1 and E5a signals to improve their position accuracy to better than ≤1.5m in the horizontal and ≤2.5 m in the vertical (95% confidence interval).
• Unless your current gear can do this without SouthPAN access, you need SouthPAN!