ISRO's IRNSS-1D Satellite Is Getting Ready To Offer Navigational Services From Space

ISRO had an eventful year in 2014 and is ready to kick off 2015 with IRNSS-1D launch. While the exact launch date for the IRNSS-1D is not known yet, it's likely to be some time after March 15. IRNSS stands for Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System and the satellite 1D will be the fourth one (out of seven satellites) that will offer navigational services in India from the space. Satellites IRNSS-1A, 1B and 1C have already been put up in their respective positions in the geostationary orbit.

The IRNSS system aims at providing navigational services a la American GPS - aka the global positioning system. ISRO officials have informed the PTI that while 4/7 satellites would be enough to start the operations the remaining three satellites will make the system a lot more accurate and efficient. Following the launch of 1D, ISRO will fire 1E and 1F satellites in 2015 itself. The launch campaign for the IRNSS-1D has already began and the team at Sriharikota awaits the parts to arrive from various ISRO labs by March 15.


Once fully deployed in space, the IRNSS would offer two types of services - standard positioning service which would be made available to all the users and a restricted service which would be available only to the authorised users from military and the government. ISRO's aiming to complete the IRNSS mission with a total cost of about Rs. 1420 crores.

With the successful completion of the IRNSS mission, India will join the club of select few countries that have their own positioning system. The club members are Russia (GLONASS), USA (GPS), European Union (GNSS) and China (BeiDou & Quasi-Zenith Satellite System). We wish entire ISRO team all the best for their upcoming missions. As always, we'll bring you the latest happenings from the world of Indian space exploration. Stay tuned!

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