India Launches 1st Regional Nav Sat

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has launched the first Indian regional navigation satellite system (IRNSS) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The launch at 11:41pm IST on July 1 marks the 23rd consecutively successful mission of the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV).

 

The mission was carried out on PSLV-XL configuration, which was earlier used to launch Chandrayaan-1, GSAT-12 and RISAT-1 satellites.

 

The spacecraft, designated PSLV-C22, lifted off with the firing of the first stage and four strap-on motors of the launch vehicle.

 

The flight events, including stage and strap-on ignitions, heat-shield separation, stage and strap-on separations, and satellite injection, were successfully carried out as planned.

 

After a flight of 20 minutes 17 seconds, the IRNSS-1A Satellite was placed into the intended elliptical orbit of 282.46km x 20,625.37km and the solar panels were deployed automatically.

 

Weighing 3,141 lb, IRNSS-1A is the first of the seven satellites in the space segment of the IRNSS, an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1,500km around the Indian mainland.

 

IRNSS will provide two types of service, with standard positioning services (SPS), which will be provided to all users, and restricted services (RS) that will be provided to authorized users only.

 

ISRO Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka, assumed control of the satellite, and over the coming days, five orbit maneuvers will be conducted from the facility in order to position it in its geosynchronous circular orbit at 55°E longitude.

 

The overall IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is expected to be complete by 2015-2016.

 

A number of ground stations, which will be responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control, satellite ranging, and monitoring, have been established in more than 15 locations across the country.