WASHINGTON - The first precision landing system in the United States using global positioning satellites has been approved for the Memphis International Airport and will be operational early next year, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday.

Airport president and CEO Larry Cox said the Smartpath Precision Landing System, designed by Honeywell, won't be used right away by commercial jets because more of the next generation of air traffic control equipment needs to be in place.

Cox noted that the FAA has often used Memphis as an introductory site for new air traffic control equipment. The Smartpath system is known as a ground-based augmentation system and will be used for descent and approach guidance to increase capacity at crowded airports.

According to the FAA, the Honeywell system is approved for precision approaches down to 200 feet above the runway surface. Eventually, the FAA anticipates having ground-based systems that will guide aircraft to the runway itself in zero-visibility conditions. A similar system is expected to be approved for the airport in Sydney, Australia, in the near future, the FAA said.

Also Tuesday, the airport received a discretionary Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grant of $5.9 million to widen taxiways to accommodate Boeing 777 aircraft and rehabilitate Runway 9/27.

That brings the total AIP funding for the Memphis airport this year to $23.6 million, according to a statement from the office of U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.