Post thruster valve failure, ISRO looks at operating NVS-02 sans orbit-raising

The space scientists have admitted that this is the first time that such a setback occurred so soon after launch.
NVS-02 navigation satellite
NVS-02 navigation satellite (Photo| X/ ISRO)
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BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on a “plan B” after discovering that the thrusters of the navigation satellite NVS-02 were non-functional due to their valves failing to open to allow the oxidizer to fire the thrusters to enable the satellite to raise to the desired orbit.

As the thrusters failed to function, the NVS-02 is currently in an elliptical orbit in which the launcher GSLV-F15 launched it on January 29. As all other satellite systems are healthy, alternate strategies for utilising the satellite for navigation in an elliptical orbit are being worked out.

“The errors have been found and work on reviving it using manual commands is ongoing. It cannot be called a ‘failure’, but it is a setback,” said an ISRO scientist.

The space scientists have admitted that this is the first time that such a setback occurred so soon after launch. “Usually shortage of fuel or errors in the thrusters happen after a particular age of the satellite is passed. This is the first time that it has happened in just 3-4 days of the launch. The reasons for the error are now being ascertained as multiple trials by several committees were conducted before the final clearance and launch,” the scientist said.

The NVS-02 is the second in the five-satellite series of India’s second generation navigation satellite which will supplant and succeed the first generation navigation satellite — the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) — which comprise seven nav sats from IRNSS-1A through IRNSS-1G, under India’s navigation satellite service, Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC). The IRNSS service has been functional since 2018.

ISRO had launched the first of the second generation nav sat, NVS-01, on May 29, 2023, which is still functioning.

A former ISRO official with expertise in navigation satellite technology, said the anomaly in the thruster valves “will not affect the navigation data that ISRO and the country is getting as it is a constellation of satellites…but it is a jolt to the teams which have been working on it.”

ISRO said NVS-02’s solar panels were successfully deployed and the power generation was nominal. Communication with the ground station is also established, and the satellite system is healthy.

NavIC is designed to provide accurate Position, Velocity and Timing (PVT) services to Indian users and areas extending beyond 1500km. The navigation payload has L1, L5 and S bands in addition to the ranging payload in C-band, weighing 2250kgs. The NVS-02 uses a combination of indigenous and procured atomic clocks for precise time estimation. The satellite was designed, developed and integrated at the U R Satellite Centre.

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