Setback for forces as NaVIC goes down to three sats; ex-IAF chief calls desi navigation system a ‘failure’ | India Information
NEW DELHI: India’s regional navigation system NaVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation system), costing upwards of over Rs 3,200 crore, is now hanging by a thread because the variety of totally practical navigation satellites in area has dropped to a few satellites. NavIC is designed to run successfully with a constellation of seven satellites, although a minimal of 4 satellites is required for correct 3D place, navigation, and timing (PNT) providers.With Isro failing to launch two navigation satellites (IRNSS-1H in 2017 and NVS-02 in 2025) in recent times attributable to totally different causes like rocket failure, India’s regional system is dealing with a failure because the satellite tv for pc numbers have dipped to a few — IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1L, and second-generation NVS-01 — beneath the minimal requirement of 4 satellites. A significant setback occurred after the final atomic clock, which is the center of a navigation satellite tv for pc, on board navigation satellite tv for pc IRNSS-1F stopped performing on March 10, leaving solely three satellites of India’s NaVIC constellation in perform.Talking on the DefSpace symposium right here, former IAF chief ACM Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria (Retd) stated on Thursday, “NaVIC will probably be remembered extra due to its failure and guarantees that weren’t delivered fairly than something. It’s excessive time that NaVIC-type capabilities are redrawn utterly”.Former Air Vice Marshal Dhananjay Khot, who’s now principal guide, implementation of decadal imaginative and prescient & technique, in area regulator IN-SPACe, additionally advised TOI through the DefSpace symposium, that NaVIC working with three satellites is an enormous setback for safety forces.Indian armed forces use the navigation satellite tv for pc system for logistics, mapping and operational planning. Even missiles navigate primarily based on a rustic’s navigation system. Counting on a overseas navigation satellite tv for pc system may pose safety points, particularly throughout wars.India had deliberate to develop its personal navigation system when the US denied GPS knowledge to the nation on the peak of the Kargil battle with Pakistan. With the primary IRNSS satellite tv for pc launch in 2013, India was in a position to have a seven-satellite constellation accomplished on April 28, 2016. Nevertheless, with no substitute satellites launched, India’s navigation system wants pressing consideration.In addition to the US’s GPS, Russia operates GLONASS, Europe runs Galileo, and China operates the BeiDou Navigation Satellite tv for pc System (BDS). These three methods, like GPS, present world protection with constellations of round 24–35 satellites in medium Earth orbit. China’s BeiDou has greater than 30 operational satellites, whereas Europe’s Galileo affords high-precision civilian positioning providers worldwide.
