April 12, 2018
NavIC, also known as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1,500 km around the Indian mainland
A number of ground facilities responsible for IRNSS satellite ranging and monitoring, generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control, network timing, among other, have been established across India as part of NavIC
The launch comes weeks after ISRO said that it was working on a proposal announced in 2010 by the Indian Government to support the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries with data from India’s remote sensing satellites
Till now, ISRO’s highly successful launch system technology, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), has launched 52 Indian satellites and 237 customer satellites from abroad; Since 2015, ISRO has launched 169 foreign satellites for 23 countries
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully completed another programme to launch a navigation satellite. In its 43rd flight, the state-run agency’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C41 successfully launched the 1,425 kg IRNSS-1I Navigation Satellite on April 12th from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. After a flight lasting about 19 minutes, IRNSS-1I separated from PSLV, following which ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan, Karnataka took over the control of the satellite. IRNSS-1I is the latest member of the ‘Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC)’ system. NavIC, also known as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1,500 km around the Indian mainland.
A number of ground facilities responsible for IRNSS satellite ranging and monitoring, generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control, network timing, among other, have been established in many locations across India as part of NavIC. The launch comes weeks after ISRO said that it was working on a proposal announced in 2010 by the Indian Government to support the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries with crucial data collected by India’s remote sensing satellites. Besides receiving and processing data from the Indian remote sensing satellites RESOURCESAT-2 and OCEANSAT-2, the ASEAN states will also receive training in space science, technology and applications. India pursues cooperation in peaceful usages of space technology with space agencies of 43 nations as well as those under five multilateral bodies.
India’s state-run space agency also keeps developing new products and services, jointly with foreign partnering agencies, through joint missions, scientific instruments accommodation, data sharing and exchange of expertise. ISRO has launched the ‘South Asia Satellite’ in May 2017 to provide satellite communication services to individual South Asian nations and also across the region. To boost ties, India is a member of a number of international and regional organisations to promote space cooperation to provide timely aid and help create business opportunities. To support such projects, ISRO has launched eight communication satellites, eight navigational satellite, five remote sensing satellite, two meteorological satellite, one science satellite and nine technology demonstration and student satellites over the last five years.