Sriharikota: India successfully put into orbit the first of its second generation navigation satellite NVS-01 on Monday in a copy book style.
The 2,232 kg NVS-01 satellite — part of Indian satellite navigation system NavIC or originally called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)– was carried by Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
Simply put, NavIC is an Indian ‘GPS’ – Global Positioning System. Around 10.42 a.m. the three staged GSLV rocket standing 51.7 metre tall and weighing 420 ton rose up into the skies from the second launch pad here. Breaking free of the earth’s gravitational pull the rocket went up and up with a bright orange fire at its tail. At the rocket mission control room Indian space scientists at ISRO were glued to their computer screens watching the rocket’s flight progress.
Just over 19 minutes into the flight the rocket slung NVS-01 into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) from where the satellite will be taken up to its final position.
The Indian satellite navigation system NavIC consists of nine satellites — seven in orbit and two as substitutes. NVS series of satellites will sustain and augment the NavIC with enhanced features. The NVS-01 with a mission life of 12 years is powered by two solar arrays capable of generating power up to 2.4kW and a lithium-ion battery during the eclipse.
This series has payloads that operate on L1, L5 and S bands thereby widening its services. The L1 navigation band is popular for providing Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services for civilian users and for interoperability with other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, ISRO said.