GSLV-F12 carrying navigation satellite NVS-01 lifts-off from Sriharikota

The satellite comes with 12 years operational life. It provides new service in L1 band and encompasses indigenously developed Rubidium atomic clock.

ISRO's GSLV carrying navigation satellite NVS-01 being moved to the launch pad ahead of its launch, at the Satish Dhawan Space Station, in Sriharikota.

SRIHARIKOTA: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday successfully launched NVS-01, a second-generation navigation satellite, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR in Sriharikota.

The national space agency is expanding its regional satellite navigation system — NavIC — with the addition of more powerful and reliable navigation satellites. The first satellite in the new series was launched using a GSLV-F12 rocket. Officials said four more are under production.

These satellites are built with a more operational life of 12 years and incorporate L1 band signals additionally. For the first time, an indigenous atomic clock was flown in NVS-01.

The launch vehicle standing 51.7 metres tall with a mass of 420 tonnes has lifted-off majestically from the second launch pad carrying 2,232 kg payload. The satellite was precisely injected into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit in about 19 minutes.

ISRO chairman S Somanath declared the mission a success and said the satellite team has taken over to do the subsequent orbit raising maneuvers and to put the satellite into the intended orbit.

The NavIC uses seven satellites to provide real-time positioning and timing services in India and an area extending up to 1,500 km from the country’s borders. However, several satellites that were launched between 2013–2018 have become defunct, thereby hampering its operational capabilities.

According to ISRO, the second-generation navigation satellites will not only ensure continuity of legacy NavIC services, but also provide new service in L1 band.

The L1 navigation band is popular for providing PNT (Position, Navigation and Timing) services for civilian users and for interoperability with other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS (US), Glonass (Russia), Galileo (EU) and BeiDou (China).

ISRO sources said equipping new satellites with L1 band was crucial for penetration into the civilian sector easily.