India had very
jubiliant moments on Thursday 28, When the country entered an exclusive club of five nations
having their own satellite navigation and positioning system by successfull launching
the IRNSS-1G, country’s seventh navigation satellite and completing the constellation
of seven satellites for the purpose there moments were of immense
pride for the nation on April 28, when at 12.50 pm sharp, a 44.4-metre-tall
PSLV rocket, weighing 320 tonnes, blasted into the sky from Sriharikota in
Andhra Pradesh with a blazing orange-red tail trailing behind to put in orbit
this seventh satellite in this series of seven. After zooming through the sky
for nearly 20 minutes, the satellite IRNSS-1G was ejected from the rocket and
injected into an elliptical orbit. It swiftly opened its solar panels, and the
nation rejoiced to have its mini GPS, That is a regional positioning system. Now
the country will no more have to depend on any foreign power for military
navigation. Soon with the complete system in place, the armed forces will be
able to find their position accurately in the battleground and also to direct
ammunition and missiles even deep into enemy territory, as it would have an extended
range of 1,500 km beyond our borders.
This “Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System” (IRNSS) to be
called as NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) would become operational
in about a month’s time. The NAVIC would offer services like terrestrial and
marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management,
navigation aide for hikers and travellers, visual and voice navigation for
drivers with this launch, the IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is now
complete. This will allow the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to
focus on the process of designing front end chips which will receive the
navigational signals sent out by the satellites. The system will be similar to
the Global Positioning System (GPS) operated by the United States with 24
satellites and the Glonass, Galileo and BeiDou systems of Russia, Europe and
China respectively.
The system can also be
used for civilian navigation —i.e. for the aircraft, ships, railways and
others. It would also provide terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and
travellers, along with visual and voice navigation for drivers. It can also be
integrated into phones. Other civilian applications of the system would include
mapping, disaster management, and vehicle and fleet management, said experts.
Earlier, India had already launched six regional navigational satellites
(IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID,1E and 1F) to provide accurate position information
service to users across the country and the region, extending up to an area of
1,500 km. Though the full system comprises nine satellites (seven in orbit and
two on the ground as standby), navigation services could be made operational
with four. Each of these satellites has costed about Rs 150 crore and the
PSLV-XL version rocket about Rs 130 crore. The seven rockets would entail an
outlay of Rs 910 crore. The total project cost including other facilities is
around Rs.1,420 crore, as per ISRO officials. The first satellite IRNSS-1A was
launched in July 2013, the second IRNSS-1B in April 2014, the third on October
2014, the fourth in March 2015, and the fifth and sixth on January 20 and March
10, 2016. All satellites will now have to undergo stabilization testing and
verification of their performance over the next few months, before being pushed
into use, according to ISRO officials.
The Indian system provides positional accuracy of 10 meters. Soon
civilian usage of GPS would also bloom and the costs would come down
considerably, when more and more manufacturers would start making the
navigation signal receivers. That will soon happen, once the IRNSS is formally
declared operational. It would also add to our strength in the regional
diplomacy, since an area of 1,500 km will be covered from Indian boundaries by
the navigational system, and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already
invited other countries to make use of this system. So we would also be able to
secure better international cooperation and leadership by giving access to
other countries of this region. We have seven neighbours who may rely on us for
this navigation technology. They can use these Indian services at their will.
An Indian-owned satellite navigation system is crucial to get
positional accuracy during war or a war-like situation as the country could be
denied such information by countries owing similar systems during such times. So,
it is a unique gift of our scientists for our people and polity. With an
accuracy of better than 10 m being claimed by ISRO, the navigation system will
be offered as an open or Standard Positioning Service and a superior, coded
military Restricted Service.
