Chennai: Incidents like the Uber cab rape and the Delhi gangrape can be prevented once the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is put to place as it will enable transport companies to effectively monitor their vehicle movements, a senior scientist from ISRO said.
Along with ships, planes and tanks, transport companies too can use IRNSS to monitor vehicle movement. One can receive the signal even in a handheld device from these satellites. So, cab companies can upload the routine route map of their cabs and if a cab is deviating from the said route, they will get the alert and in turn, the police can be alerted, he added.
Of the seven satellites forming the IRNSS constellation, four are already in orbit and the fifth - IRNSS-1E - is set to be launched from Sathish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on January 20. The PSLV-C31 rocket will launch the IRNSS-1E from the second launch pad at 9.31 am.
The IRNSS became operational with four satellites and the fifth one is expected to improve the position accuracy. At present IRNSS was subscribed to by educational and research institutions for academic purpose.
At a user meet of IRNSS held recently, the accuracy was seen as marginally less for two hours every day. Scientists expressed confidence that with the IRNSS-1E launch, position accuracy will be better all through the day.
When IRNSS is fully operational it can replace the GPS in the Indian region. If we combine the data from IRNSS and GAGAN satellites it will pave the way for so many applications. As it can provide real-time data, the Ministry of Railways already started a pilot study for using this data to prevent the accidents at unmanned level crossings, scientists added.
Armed forces felt a need for an indigenous navigational system during the hostile situations as the US can block GPS data on certain strategic pockets.
IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary.
The main objective of this system is to provide reliable position, navigation and timing services over India and its neighbourhood. It will provide Standard Positioning Service (SPS), Restricted Service (RS) to the users.
