Context:
- Navigation satellite IRNSS-1I was put in orbit by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) PSLV-C41 rocket early on Thursday morning.
About IRNSS-1I:
- Eighth in the series, the 1425- kg satellite completes the first phase of the Indian regional navigation constellation.
- The navigation satellites, dubbed India’s own GPS (Global Positioning System), are meant for giving precise information of position, navigation and time of objects or people. They were built by a consortium of six Indian companies led by Alpha Design Technologies Ltd., Bengaluru.
- They have a civilian and a restricted military/security application.
- Although 1I is the ninth to be launched in the NavIC navigation fleet, it counts as the eighth, as the previous one, 1H, was lost in a faulty launch last August.
- They were planned as backups but became necessary after the three imported rubidium atomic clocks on 1A failed while in orbit.
- Both 1I and 1H extensively involved the consortium in the assembly, integration and testing in Bengaluru — an exercise that ISRO would replicate in coming missions.
Request to industry, institutions:
- The NavIC constellation is going to create history and make innovative applications to the entire community in ocean-based services, especially for the underserved and unserved.
- Very recently we created a NavIC-based application that will be released soon. I request industry and institutions to take these applications to the user community.
Source:TH