India's navigation satellite plan has strategic significance

IRNSS-1B being launched from SHAR

By Dinesh C Sharma, Metro India, April 8, 2014

In the din of ongoing election campaign, a major achievement of the country in space technology somehow got lost and did not get the attention it deserved. The successful launch of a navigation satellite called IRNSS-1B from Sriharikota last week was not just another routine launch for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Both the satellite and the launch vehicle were critical. IRNSS-1B, as the name suggests is the second satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) series. IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013. The launch vehicle was the XL version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which had earlier been used for critical missions such as the Chandrayaan-1 and more recently the Mars Orbiter Mission.

With the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, India is trying to enter a new area of space technology application – navigation – which till now has been dominated by the U.S. and more recently China. With its own navigation satellites, India plans to develop an Indian navigation system just like the GPS (Global Positioning System) currently operated by the American Air Force. It has become so popular that GPS has almost become synonymous with navigation though it is only a brand name.

When fully operational, the Indian navigation system will have a constellation of seven satellites that will provide round-the-clock coverage of the Indian landmass and an area covering 1500 km around the Indian mainland. Two more satellites of this constellation - IRNSS-1C and IRNSS-1D - are planned to be launched in the second half of 2014. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015-16. It is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region. Like the 24-satellite GPS, the Indian system will provide Standard Positioning Services (SPS) to Indian users as well as restricted positioning services for military and other strategic users.

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