India is set to make its own navigational system operational with the succesful launch of the IRNSS-1D on Saturday, the fourth in a series of seven navigational satellites, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre .
A beaming ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar, for whom this is the first project after taking charge of the space agency, said the mission was succesful and the satellite has been placed in precise orbit.
“I congratulate the entire ISRO team for the 28th straight successful PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle ) mission which has put the IRNSS-1D, the fourth of the navigation constellation satellite succesfully,” Kumar said.
This mission has got significance because we are completing the minimum essential requirement of four satellites in the orbit to start the navigation process,
– ISRO Project Director P Kunhikrishnan
IRNSS-1D, which will provide navigation, tracking and mapping service and have a mission life of 10 years, is the fourth in the constellation of seven satellites, planned by ISRO to constitute IRNSS, which would be on par with US-based GPS once the full complement of spacecrafts are launched.
While four satellites would be sufficient to start operations of the IRNSS system, the remaining three would make it more accurate and efficient.
The IRNSS system, planned to be completed by this year at a total cost of Rs 1,420 crore, is designed to provide accurate position information services to users in the country as well as the region extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary.
Its applications include terrestrial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, navigation aide for hikers and travellers, visual and voice navigation for drivers.
IRNSS system would provide two types of services - Standard Positioning Service, which is given to all the users, and Restricted Service that is an encrypted service provided only to authorised users such as the government and Indian Military.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated scientists for the successful launch of IRNSS-1D satellite, saying “it is yet another manifestation of their exemplary efforts.”
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