What is Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)?

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) with an operational name of NAVIC (NAVigation with Indian Constellation) is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system, that provides accurate real-time positioning and timing services.

It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km around it. The system at present consists of a constellation of eight satellites, with two additional satellites on ground as stand-by.

The constellation is operational from early 2018.

Objective of the project

The objective of the project is to implement an independent and indigenous regional space borne navigation system for national applications.

Services provided by NAVIC

NAVIC will provide two levels of service, the “standard positioning service” will be open for civilian use, and a “restricted service” (an encrypted one) for authorized users (including military).

Applications of IRNSS

IRNSS applications include

1 . Terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation;

2 . Disaster management

3 . Vehicle tracking and fleet management

4 . Precise timing mapping and geodetic data capture

5 . Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers

6 . Visual and voice navigation for drivers

Satellites under IRNSS and their launch

IRNSS-1A, the first of the seven satellites, was launched on 1 July 2013.

IRNSS-1B was launched on 4 April 2014 .

IRNSS-1C was launched on 16 October 2014

IRNSS-1D on 28 March 2015

IRNSS-1E on 20 January 2016

IRNSS-1F on 10 March 2016

IRNSS-1G was launched on 28 April 2016.

However atomic clocks of IRNSS-1A failed in 2017. But ISRO’s attempt to replace IRNSS-1A with IRNSS-1H was unsuccessful when PSLV-C39 mission failed on 31 August 2017. After that a replacement satellite, IRNSS-1I, was successfully placed into orbit on 12 April 2018.

Thus at present IRNSS consists of – IRNSS-1A , IRNSS-1B , IRNSS-1C , IRNSS-1D , IRNSS-1E , IRNSS-1F , IRNSS-1G and IRNSS-1I.

NVS series satellite

NVS-01 is the first in the series of second generation navigation satellite and the ninth satellite in the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC), with an alternate name of, IRNSS-1J.

It will augment the existing satellite and bolster the capability of the NavIC constellation by adding more robustness and new features.

The satellite is intended to replace IRNSS-1G and augment the constellation of geosynchronous navigation satellites after IRNSS-1I.

NVS-01 was successfully launched by 15th flight of GSLV (GSLV-F12) in Mk2 configuration on 29 May 2023.

Orbits of the satellites

Three of the seven satellites are located in geostationary orbit (GEO) approximately 36,000 km above earth surface. Remaining four satellites are in inclined geosynchronous orbit (GSO). The four GSO satellites will appear to be moving in the form of an “8”.

How IRNSS is better than GPS from Indian perspective?

GPS has 31 satellites, while IRNSS has only 7 satellites even then we will get an accurate location from IRNSS. The 24 functional satellites of GPS is for the entire globe, while 7 satellites of IRNSS is covering only India and its neighboring countries.

While GPS is using only L-Band signals, NavIC is using both L and S Band. Since our signals are coming vertically from stationary reference, our NavIC is going to work better than GPS in crowded places. If you use both L and S bands, our accuracy is more than 5 meters. This has a better potential than a 20-meter accuracy GPS.

Above all IRNSS will free India from foreign dependency as access to foreign government-controlled global navigation satellite systems is not guaranteed in hostile situations, as happened to the Indian military in 1999 when it was dependent on the American Global Positioning System (GPS) during the Kargil War.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUES . With reference to the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), consider the following statements : UPSC 2018

1 . IRNSS has three satellites in geostationary and four satellites in geosynchronous orbits.

2 . IRNSS covers entire India and about 5500 sq. km beyond its borders.

3. India will have its own satellite navigation system with full global coverage by the middle of 2019.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) None

Show Answer