ISRO has just launched ninth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) series. Named as IRNSS-1I, the satellite is intended to complete the IRNSS series by serving as a replacement for IRNSS-1A and IRNSS-1H. The three on-board Rubidium Atomic clocks have failed in IRNSS-1A whereas IRNSS-1H didn’t separate from the PSLV-C39 as the fairing separation failed three minutes into launch.
The satellite was successfully launched into orbit through PSLV-C41 which was the 43rd flight in PSLV series. This launch has been done using an “XL” configuration of PSLV which is done for the twelfth consecutive time.
As mentioned before, IRNSS-1I is the ninth satellite to join the IRNSS series which effectively serves “NavIC” system. NavIC which is an acronym for Navigation with Indian Constellation is India’s native navigation satellite system which is aimed at providing relevant position information similar to Global Positioning System (GPS) of America. NavIC is intended for both commercial and military positioning applications. As like every other mission, the military positioning application would have a better accuracy of upto 0.1 meter resolution as compared to 10 to 20 meters resolution accuracy intended to be provided for commercial applications. Apart from NavIC, ISRO is also working with Airports Authority of India (AAI) to establish GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system with the objective of providing accurate navigation services for civil aviation thereby providing better air traffic management. The GAGAN system has been made interoperable with other international Satellite based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) for accurate and seamless navigation across international borders.