Coverage area for NAVIA
SRIHARIKOTA: India on Thursday took the final step towards completing its own satellite navigation system, a development heralded by the Prime Minister as making the nation self-reliant in the field of space-based positioning.
The seventh satellite to make up the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) was launched into space via a rocket from Sriharikota spaceport in south western India at 12:50 pm IST (0720 GMT).
However, unlike the widely used United States' Global Positioning System (GPS) or Russia's GLONASS, the Indian system will provide positioning information only in India and 1,500 square kilometres (580 square miles) around its periphery.
"Until now we were dependent on their systems, now we are self-reliant," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a televised congratulatory message to scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
"With this successful launch, we will determine our own paths powered by our technology. This is a great gift to our people from the scientists," he said.
"Our efforts will help not only India but we can help fellow SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) nations as well."
The system, which will be fully operational in a month's time, offers applications for marine and air navigation and can be integrated into mobile phones for use by hikers or fishermen, for example.
Over the next six months, all the IRNSS satellites will be stabilised in their final orbital positions, ISRO spokesman Deviprasad Karnik said.
A ground control centre in the southern city of Bangalore and tracking stations across the country will monitor the system round the clock.
ISRO scientists have been riding high since an Indian spacecraft successfully reached Mars in 2014 on a shoe-string budget, winning Asia's race to the Red Planet and sparking an outpouring of national pride.
The eight countries that make up SAARC are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
China and the European Union are both developing global satellite navigation systems.
Satellites
IRNSS-1A
IRNSS-1A was the first navigational satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System series of satellites to be placed in geosynchronous orbit. It was built at ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, costing ₹125 crore (US$19 million). It has a lift-off mass of 1380 kg, and carries a navigation payload and a C-band ranging transponder, which operates in L5 band (1176.45 MHz) and S band (2492.028 MHz). An optimised I-1K bus structure with a power handling capability of around 1600 watts is used and is designed for a ten-year mission. The satellite was launched on-board PSLV-C22 on 1 July 2013 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
IRNSS-1B
IRNSS-1B is the second out of seven in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. It was very precisely and successfully placed in its orbit through PSLV-C24 rocket on 4 April 2014.
IRNSS-1C
IRNSS-1C is the third out of seven in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System series of satellites. The satellite was successfully launched using India's PSLV-C26 from theSatish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on 16 October 2014 at 1:32 am.
IRNSS-1D
IRNSS-1D is the fourth out of seven in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System series of satellites system. It was successfully launched using India's PSLV-C27 on 28 March 2015 at 5:19 pm.
IRNSS-1E
IRNSS-1E is the fifth out of seven in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System series of satellites system. It was successfully launched on 20 January 2016 using India's PSLV-C31 at 9:31 am.
IRNSS-1F
IRNSS-1F is the sixth out of seven in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System series of satellites system. It was successfully launched on 10 March 2016 using India's PSLV-C32 at 4:01 pm.
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