Sriharikota, Oct 31: India’s independent regional navigation satellite system NavIC was restored to its minimum operational configuration of four satellites on Friday as ISRO successfully launched its navigation satellite NVS-03, which was placed into the designated injection orbit by a GSLV rocket
The second-generation navigation satellite NVS-03 with indigenous and procured atomic clocks has a wide array of applications including civilian use like real time tracking of trains, vehicles, and shipping vessels.Further, the NavIC constellation is an important component of the ‘one nation, one time’ project, ISRO chief V Narayanan said after the successful mission launch.
The NVS-03 satellite is all set to complement three other navigational satellites in operation including the NVS-01 and it will strengthen infrastructure for a robust IST with the government recently notifying the Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026. The nation’s own satellite navigation system ‘NaVIC,’ is the Indian version of GPS, albeit confined to the country and 1,500 km beyond.
On Friday, the 50-metre-tall GSLV rocket carrying NVS-03 lifted off at the scheduled time of 11.51 pm from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, following a 24-hour countdown.After a flight of about 18 minutes, which saw the successful performance of all three stages including the complex cryogenic upper stage, the primary payload got separated from the launch vehicle and was injected into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).In his address following the success of the crucial mission, Narayanan said already three satellites, including NVS-01 are successfully working and now, NVS-03 has restored Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services.
