IRNSS
With IRNSS-1G slated to be launched in March this year, the national space agency ISRO is quickly putting across cities the last pieces of ground-based support infrastructure of the system. The sixth spacecraft, IRNSS-1F, is slated to be launched on 11th March from Sriharikota.
- ISRO is getting closer to completing the seven-spacecraft regional navigation system in space by April as planned.
- The nerve centre of IRNSS, the ISRO Navigation Centre, is at Byalalu on the outskirts of Bengaluru and is part of the 21 ground locations.
ISRO is adding a back-up for it at Lucknow. Four more centres providing different vital services are also coming up.
- Among them are data receiving and processing centres; units that have instruments such as atomic clocks for keeping accurate time, which is essential in navigation; and those that generate and transmit navigation parameters and maintain the spacecraft in position all the time.
About Ground Segment of IRNSS:
The ground segment, estimated to cost Rs. 300 crore, is part of the Rs. 1,420-crore IRNSS scheme, which was approved in May 2006.
- Currently, the IRNSS ground segment is operational on a 24/7 basis through 13 IRIMS (Indian Range and Integrity Monitoring Stations; 1 IRNSS Network Timing Centre; one ISRO Navigation Centre and one Spacecraft Control Facility with its data communication network.
- The range monitoring IRIMS, which could eventually total 15 to 17, will be spread across Gaggal, Dehradun, Lucknow, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bhopal, Shillong, Kolkata, Goa, Pune, Kavaratti, Mahendragiri and Port Blair, besides Bengaluru and Hassan.
- A Space Control Facility each will be in Hassan Karnataka— where the Master Control Facility for communication satellites functions since many decades — and its alternative centre in Bhopal.
Navigation satellites provide three main data, namely PNT: information on position, navigation and time. The data is important for a host of users, from the military to managers of air land and sea transport up to the man on the street looking to reach somewhere.
About IRNSS:
What is it?
IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland.
What all services are provided?
IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely Standard Positioning Services available to all users and Restricted Services provided to authorised users.
How many more satellites to be launched?
As of now, 5 satellites are launched out of total 7. Two more satellites will be launched by April 2016.
Significance of IRNSS:
Once fully operational, the National Space Agency is aiming to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign navigational systems such as the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS.
Applications of IRNSS:
- Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation.
- Disaster Management.
- Vehicle tracking and fleet management.
- Integration with mobile phones.
- Precise Timing.
- Mapping and Geodetic data capture.
- Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travelers.
- Visual and voice navigation for drivers.
Other Global Navigational Systems:
- As of now, only the United States NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS are global operational GNSSs.
- China is in the process of expanding its regional Beidou navigation system into the global Compass navigation system by 2020.
- The European Union’s Galileo positioning system is a GNSS in initial deployment phase, scheduled to be fully operational by 2020 at the earliest.
- France (DORIS), India, and Japan are in the process of developing regional navigation systems.
