AIR Spotlight: Significance of NavIC

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio News on air. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation.

This article is about the discussion on: ‘Successful launch of New Navigation Satellite, Significance of NavIC’.

Participants:

• Biman Basu: Science & Technology Expert
• Omvesh Upadhyay: AIR Correspondent

Context – The ISRO successfully launched the GSLV-F12 /NVS-01 Mission. The mission which is carrying a navigation satellite called NVS-01 took off aboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The launch took place from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota.

NavIC – Navigation with Indian Constellation

India has developed an indigenous version of the navigation system which is similar to GPS and is on par with navigation systems like Glonass by Russia and Galileo developed by the EU. The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is officially called NavIC – Navigation with Indian Constellation. The regional geo-positioning system has been developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

• NavIC consists of seven satellites, working in conjunction with ground stations (operating 24✖7).
• Three satellites are in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and four are in Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO).
• NavIC is designed to provide accurate real-time positioning and timing services to users in India as well as regions extending upto 1,500 km from its boundary.
• It offers two services, meant for general users and strategic users like the armed forces.
• The NavIC satellites play a vital role in various applications across terrestrial, aerial, and marine navigation, location-based services, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, etc.
• NavIC signals are designed to provide user position accuracy better than 20m and timing accuracy better than 50 nanoseconds.
• NavIC produces more accurate domestic navigation and GoI wants to reduce its dependence on foreign systems, including the widely used U.S Global Positioning System (GPS).

Also read – IRNSS-NAVIC.

Successful launch of GSLV-F12/NVS -01

The ISRO successfully launched the GSLV F12/NVS-01 mission. The GSLV (Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle) mission deployed the NVS-01 navigation satellite, weighing about 2232 kg into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. The vehicle took off from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

• NVS-01 is the first of the second-generation satellites envisaged for Navigation with the Indian constellation (NavIC).
• NVS series of satellites will sustain and augment the NavIC with enhanced features.
• The NVS satellites incorporate L1 band signals that will help additionally “widen the services” that NavIC can provide. The L1 navigation band is popular for providing PNT (Positioning, Navigation and Timing) services for civilian users and for interoperability with other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
• One noteworthy component of the NVS is an indigenously developed Rubidium atomic clock, created by the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad. The inclusion of this clock is significant, as it is a sophisticated technology possessed by only a select few countries, highlighting India’s technical capabilities in this field.
• In the foreseeable future, all mobile phones may have NavIC-enabled chipsets for primary usage instead of GPS in India. However, at present it is of limited and specific usage. The globally recognised GPS has more than 30 satellites. 

NISAR – ISRO’s Future Mission

NASA-ISRO SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), NISAR is a low earth observatory being jointly developed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)  and ISRO. 

• It will be launched on GSLV.
• ISRO will use NISAR for agricultural mapping, monitoring of glaciers, changes in the coastlines etc. 

Indian Space Policy 2023

The Indian Space Policy 2023 is a comprehensive set of guidelines that outlines the role and responsibilities of different entities in the Indian Space Sector. Its key features are –

• It aims to encourage private sector participation in India’s space sector.
• ISRO will primarily focus on research and development of advanced space technologies.
• The operational aspect of ISRO’s mission will be handled by New Space India Limited – (NSIL), a space sector Public Sector Undertaking (PSU).
• Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, (IN-SPACe) will serve as the interface between ISRO and non-government entities. 

Conclusion – India’s space sector is globally recognised for cost-effective satellite building. The Indian space sector has grown exponentially over the years with considerable expansion in its scope and domain. 

Read previous AIR Spotlight articles here.

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