India successfully launched its first dedicated navigation satellite using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle which took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Andhra Pradesh.
An elated ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said the IRNSS-1A satellite was precisely injected into its intended orbit.
The data from the satellite would help the country in a range of fields including disaster management, vehicle tracking, fleet management and marine navigation.
Developed by India, the IRNSS-1A, the first of the 7 satellites constituting the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) space segment, has a mission life of 10 years.
It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in the country as well as the region extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area.
IRNSS will be on lines with Russia’s Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS), European Union’s Galileo (GNSS), China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system and the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System.
The navigational system would provide two types of services –Standard Positioning Service, which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service, which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users.
IRNSS applications include mapping and geodetic data capture, precise timing, visual and voice navigation for drivers, integration with mobile phones and terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers.
IRNSS-1A carries navigation payload, which will transmit navigation service signals to users, by operating in L5 (1176.45 MHz) and S band (2492.028 MHz) with a highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock and the ranging payload of a C-band transponder, which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite.
India aspires to have the seven-satellite IRNSS space segment in place before 2015 at a total cost of Rs 1420 crore..