Chennai, March 28 (IANS) An Indian rocket is readying to blast off at 5.19 p.m. on Saturday carrying the country's fourth navigation satellite IRNSS-1D from the Sriharikota rocket port, the Indian space agency said .
The countdown is progressing smoothly with the rocket's second stage fuelled up early Saturday morning.
The 59-and-a-half hour countdown began on March 26 at 5.49 a.m.
Around 20 minutes into the flight, the rocket - the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C27) - would eject the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)-1D at around 506 km above the earth.
From there the satellite would further be moved to its final position.
India has so far launched three regional navigational satellites as part of a constellation of seven satellites to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region, extending upto an area of 1,500 km.
The three satellites launched earlier have been integrated with the ground stations and are working well.
Once IRNSS-1D also gets integrated, then the Indian satellite navigation system would start transmitting navigation signals. This meets the minimum number of satellites necessary for enabling a navigation receiver to compute its position.
Thus with IRNSS-1D functioning in orbit, proof-of-concept of an independent regional navigation satellite system over India can be established.
According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials, two more navigation satellites are expected to be launched in 2015 and the seventh and the last one of the system in all probability would go up early 2016.
Full navigation services are expected to be offered from mid-2016, according to the officials.
Queried about the ground segment infrastructure, a senior official at ISRO not wanting to be named told IANS that good part of that is in place and the balance would be ready soon.
He said the IRNSS system is unique as it consists of only seven satellites while other systems have more than 20 satellites.
However, while other systems are global, Indian system is regional in nature.
Nevertheless, ISRO official claims that India can replace the US GPS with Indian system when full fledged operations begin.
The fully operational system is expected to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region, extending up to an area of 1,500 km.
While ISRO is silent on the navigation systems strategic application, it is clear that IRNSS will be used for defence purposes as well.
Each satellite costs around Rs.150 crore and the PSLV-XL version rocket costs around Rs.130 crore. The seven rockets would involve an outlay of around Rs.910 crore.
The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed this year itself.
The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013, the second IRNSS-1B in April 2014 and the third on October 16, 2014.
Once the regional navigation system is in place, India need not be dependent on other platforms.
CBSE Result 2023: CBSE 10th-12th results will be available on these websites, this is how you can check
CBSE 10th-12th Result 2023: Lakhs of students are waiting for the results of CBSE board exams. Meanwhile, there is good news for them. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will release the
Goa mining: Ministry lifts stay on green clearances
Panaji, March 21 (IANS) The union ministry for environment and forests (MoEF) has formally lifted its 2012 order holding all environment clearances (EC) granted to Goa's iron ore mines in
The new variant of Corona found in India is N-440K quite dangerous, it can spread 10 times more than the others.
The coronavirus spread in India spreads 10 times faster than the coronavirus spread in the world and it is much more dangerous than that. The Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has
BJP got the support of Shiv Sena, said- Veer Savarkar never apologized to the British
Shiv Sena and BJP have united in the debate over freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said on Wednesday that Veer Savarkar had never apologized to the British. On Tuesday
Armenia will buy Pinaka rockets and missiles from India: Tension continues with neighboring country Azerbaijan, will import weapons worth 2 thousand crores
The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia continues. Meanwhile, Armenia has made a deal to buy arms from India to drive out the enemy. Armenia will buy Pinaka launchers, including missiles, rockets, and
UN can mediate: Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine can be held in February
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the government could hold a peace summit at the United Nations by the end of February. He said that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres can mediate in
PM Narendra Modi: The country will get three national institutes of Unani, Ayurveda, and Homeopathy, Modi will inaugurate
For the first time, the country is going to get three medical institutions at the same time. These institutes range from Ayurveda to Unani and Homeopathy medicine where patients will get treatment
Protest against Agneepath: Early morning demonstration started in UP-Bihar; Train lit in Samastipur, broken windows of vehicles in Ballia
Even after increasing the age limit by the government in the Agneepath scheme made for recruitment in the army, the demonstration is not taking its name to stop. In Bihar, protesters torched two
On the last day of Chhath Mahaparv, 36 hours of waterless fast concluded with Arghya: Paran to the rising sun
Today is the last day of Chhath Mahaparv which started on 28th October. Enthusiasm was at its peak in the entire state regarding this great festival of folk faith. On Monday morning, Chhathvati and
Corona Diet: Best diet plan for fast recovery in Corona, will remove weakness
People are making many changes in their lives to avoid the outbreak of the Coronavirus. People have improved their lifestyle and food to a great extent. People are adopting a healthy lifestyle to
