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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

India getting closer to having own GPS system

India is inching closer to having its own independent satellite navigation system.

Last week, the Indian Space Research Organization successfully launched a navigation satellite IRNSS-1F into Earth’s orbit.
India's workhorse satellite launch vehicle PSLV-C32, on Thursday March 10,2016, succesfully put India's sixth navigation satellite, IRNSS-1F , into orbit.
The IRNSS-1F was launched into a sub-Geosynchronous transfer orbit with a 284-km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and 20,657-km apogee (farthest point to Earth).
The satellite will carry two types of payloads — navigation payload and ranging payload. The navigation payload will transmit navigation service signals to users while the other consists of a C-band transponder that facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite.
IRNSS-1F is the sixth in the series of seven satellites proposed under the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)

It has a 12 year mission life

The 5 satellites already launched are
  • IRNSS-1A on July 1, 2013
  • IRNSS-1B on April 4, 2014
  • IRNSS-1C on October 16, 2014
  • IRNSS-1D on March 28, 2015 and 
  • IRNSS-1E on January 20, 2016

It is the sixth in a series of seven planned to orbit the planet, which together will make India’s home-grown independent navigation satellite system, an alternative to the U.S. Global Positioning System that India currently relies on

The Indian Regional Navigations Satellite Sysyem (IRNSS) is designed to provide accurate position information to users in India as well as the region extending 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) from its boundary.

The satellites will be able to track the location and positioning of vehicles, provide information to assist during natural disasters and can be integrated with mobile phones and used to provide visual and voice navigation for drivers.

Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) said in a statement that the launch of the seventh and final satellite that will complete the constellation for the satellite-navigation service is scheduled for next month. Satellites in the navigation system run from 1A to 1G. The first, IRNSS-1A, was launched in July 2013

Note

Russia has its own global satellite navigation system called Glonass

China plans to have its own global satellite-navigation system, Compass, working by 2020

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