ISRO to launch IRNSS-1L navigation satellite from Sriharikota

CHENNAI: India will early on Thursday launch its IRNSS-1L navigation satellite from the Sriharikota rocket port, Indian space agency officials said.

The 32-hour countdown, which began at 8.04 p.m. on Tuesday, is progressing smoothly at Sriharikota, 105 km from here, said an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The 1,425-kg satellite -- part of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) -- will be carried by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket XL variant that will blast off on at around 4.04 a.m., the official said.

This will be the ninth of the IRNSS satellite series and will be a replacement for IRNSS-1A as its rubidium atomic clocks have failed. The atomic clocks are important to provide the accurate positional data.

Simply put, the IRNSS or NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is similar to the US-owned GPS.

The Rs 1,420-crore Indian satellite navigation system NavIC consists of nine satellites -- seven in orbit and two as substitutes.

The IRNSS-1L will be the second satellite that will be sent up as replacement for IRNSS-1A. The first replacement IRNSS-1H satellite launch mission ended in a failure.

Each satellite has three rubidium atomic clocks and a total of 27 clocks for the navigation satellite system (including the standby satellites) were supplied by the same vendor.

Like its other IRNSS predecessors, IRNSS-1L also carries two types of payloads for navigation and ranging.

The navigation payload of IRNSS-1L will transmit navigation service signals to the users. This payload will be operating in L5-band and S-band.

The ranging payload of IRNSS-1L consists of a C-band transponder, which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite. IRNSS-1L also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for laser ranging.

The four-stage/engine PSLV-XL stands 44.4 metres tall and weighs 321 tonne at the lift-off stage.

Around 19 minutes 20 seconds after the lift-off, the rocket will sling IRNSS-1L at an altitude of around 507 km.

According to ISRO, NavIC is useful for fishermen to reach potential fishing areas. The fishermen can also get alert messages relating to bad weather, high waves or when they approach international maritime boundary line.

These services are provided through a software application on a smartphone.

The Indian space agency also said NavIC is useful for merchant ships in their navigation and also during search and rescue operations.

In the road transport sector, NavIC helps commuters to traverse distances and also enables transport operators to track their vehicles.

According to ISRO, the navigation system is also helpful for railways in tracking trains and giving an alert in the case of unmanned level crossing.

The space agency said NavIC is also used for applications like location-based services, survey and alignment, time synchronised services.

NavIC provides two types of services -- standard positioning service and restricted service. The former is for all users while the latter is an encrypted service only for authorised users.

Starting in July 2013, the Indian space agency has launched eight navigation satellites, with the last one launched on August 31, 2017.

The August 31 mission was a failure as the rocket's heat shield did not separate three minutes after the rocket's lift-off. As a result, the IRNSS-1H remained housed inside the heat shield.

Each satellite has a lifespan of 10 years.