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Fifth navigation satellite launched : India a step closer to desi-GPS

by IBNS 19 Jan 2016, 08:06 pm

Sriharikota, Jan 20 (IBNS) India on Wednesday successfully launched its fifth navigation satellite in space -- IRNSS-1E on board PSLV-C31 rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Reports said the satellite was launched at 9.30 am.

With this launch India is one step closer to an operational 'desi-GPS'. The country's regional navigation system is likely to be ready by end of this year, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said.
 
IRNSS-1E is the fifth navigation satellite in the IRNSS space system, comprising seven satellites, which would be on par with American Global Positioning System (GPS).

India will be the sixth country in the world to have this system that is much needed by the Indian armed forces.

Two more navigation satellites will be launched in next two months.

It has configuration similar to its predecessors IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C and 1D and carries two types of payloads - navigation and ranging payload.

The navigation payload will transmit navigation service signals to the users and operating in L5-band and S-band while the other consists of a C-band transponder that facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite.

The four satellites that were already launched include IRNSS-1A on July 1, 2013, while IRNSS-1B on April 4, 2014.

IRNSS-1C was launched on October 16, 2014 and IRNSS-1D on March 28, last year.