SRIHARIKOTA:The fifth of the seven-satellite constellation that is to form India’s own indigenous navigation system was launched successfully by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota on Wednesday morning.
The launch of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS-1E) was the 33rd successful satellite launch by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which has come to become one of the world’s most reliable launch vehicles. IRNSS is an indigenously developed navigation satellite system used to provide accurate real-time positioning and timing services over India extending to 1,500 km around India.
“With this satellite in place, we will be able to get 24/7 good positional accuracy within our country. We have got two more satellites to be launched in this constellation, which will take place in the next couple of months,” said ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar.
“This year we are planning to launch the earth observation satellites. We intend to complete this year the launch of our GSLV-Mark III which is going to carry heavier satellites into geo-stationary transfer orbits,” he added from the Mission Control Centre.
This was the eleventh consecutive time that the ‘XL’ version of the launch vehicle was used. The vessel lifted off from the second launch pad of SDSC, Sriharikota, at 09.31 am. Exactly 19.36 minutes after the launch, the satellite was placed in an inclined geo-synchronous orbit carrying two types of payloads - navigation and ranging payloads.
“ISRO starts the New Year with a grand success. IRNSS-1E has been injected very precisely into the intended orbit. We have employed the most powerful vehicle for this launch with that able to carry the satellites,” Mission Director B Jayakumar said.
According to an ISRO scientist, once the remaining two satellites of the IRNSS constellation are launched, the system will be able to provide accurate positioning information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary.
While the Standard Positioning System (SPS) will be provided to all the users, Restricted Service (RS) which is an encrypted service, will be provided to authorised users.