Chennai: India is set to have the indigenous navigation system with the seventh and last satellite of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, IRNSS-1G, scheduled to be launched from Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) on Thursday.
“After the launch, the constellation of IRNSS will be completed. But the position signals from the satellites have to be validated. And chipsets to receive the signals have to be produced in large numbers to make it commercially available. It will be available for commercial users in a year’s time,” Isro sources said adding “Isro is looking forward to work with industrial establishments and entrepreneurs to produce these chips at low cost.” Like GPS, IRNSS too can be used in car navigation, aircraft, smartphones and others.
The PSLV-C33 rocket will launch the IRNSS-1G from first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota at 12.50 p.m. The 51 hr 30 minutes countdown for PSLV-C33/IRNSS-1G Mission started at 9:20 am on Tuesday.
“Countdown operations are progressing normally and propellant filling operation for second stage (PS2) is in progress,” Isro said. Like the previous IRNSS satellites, IRNSS-1G also has the lift-off mass of 1,425 kg. It will be launched into a sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (sub-GTO) with a 284 km perigee (nearest point to the Earth) and 20,657 km apogee (farthest point to Earth).
IRNSS-1G also carries two types of payloads—navigation payload and ranging payload. Its mission life is 12 years. “With the operationalisation of six satellites, independent regional navigation satellite system over India has been demonstrated for the targeted position accuracy which is much better than 20 metres over 24 hours of the day,” Isro said.
IRNSS 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. It is primary service area. It will provide two types of services namely Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all users and Restricted Service, which is an encrypted service provided only to authorised users.
