ISRO successfully launches GSLV-F12 with next-gen navigational satellite NVS-01

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday successfully launched a navigation satellite NVS-01 on-board the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle or GSLV Mk-II from Shriharikoti in Andhra Pradesh.

“GSLV-F12/ NVS-01 Mission is accomplished: After a flight of about 19 minutes, the NVS-01 satellite was injected precisely into a Geosynchronous transfer orbit,” ISRO said in a statement issued at 11.05am on Monday after the launch.

Subsequent orbit-raising manoeuvres will take NVS-01 into the geosynchronous orbit, it said.

NVS-01 is the first of the second-generation satellites envisaged for the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) services.

“This will be a return flight mission for the GSLV launch vehicle, which will carry the next-generation NavIC satellite. This satellite will replace the IRNSS-1G satellite launched in 2016,” a senior ISRO official said.

IRNSS-1G was the seventh navigation satellite of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space segment. Its predecessors—IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 1F—were launched by PSLV-C22, PSLV-C24, PSLV-C26, PSLV-C27, PSLV-C31 and PSLV-C32 in July 2013, April 2014, October 2014, March 2015, January 2016 and March 2016 respectively.

To meet the positioning, navigation and timing requirements of the nation, ISRO has established a regional navigation satellite system namely Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) erstwhile known as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).

NavIC is designed with a constellation of seven satellites and a network of ground stations operating 24x7. Three satellites of the constellation are placed in geostationary orbit and four satellites are placed in inclined geosynchronous orbit. The ground network consists of a control centre, precise timing facility, range and integrity monitoring stations, two-way ranging stations, etc.

NavIC offers two services– standard position service (SPS) for civilian users and Restricted Service (RS) for strategic users. These two services are provided in both L5 (1176.45 MHz) and S-band (2498.028 MHz).

NavIC coverage area includes India and a region up to 1500 km beyond the Indian boundary. Its signals are designed to provide user position accuracy better than 20m and timing accuracy better than 50ns.

The NVS-01 satellite is to replace the IRNSS-1G satellite that was launched in 2016 and has a mission life of 12 years. Among the still functioning satellites in the constellation, the earliest to be launched is IRNSS-1B launched in 2014 with a mission life of 10 years.