India's First Navigational Satellite IRNSS -1A to be Launched in June

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1A (IRNSS -1A), India's first navigational satellite, is set to be launched from Sriharikota spaceport at 1.01 am on 12 June, 2013.

The IRNSS -1A, which is expected to be launched from a home-grown rocket, PSLV-C22 XL, will provide terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation services and will help in disaster and fleet management.

Sources from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that the launch window will be open from June 10 to June 15.

Once launched, the 1425 kg IRNSS-1 will be tested in its orbit for a period of three to four months and have a life span of ten years. The ISRO has planned to have a constellation of seven satellites of its kind under IRNSS by 2014-15.

According to ISRO, IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position accuracy better than 10m over India and the region extending about 1500 kms around India. It will provide an accurate real time Position, Navigation and Time (PNT) services to users on a variety of platforms with 24x7 service availability under all weather conditions.

IRNSS will offer two services Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS) with encryption, according to Space Applications Centre, ISRO. The fully deployed IRNSS system consist of 3 satellites in GEO orbit and 4 satellites in GSO orbit, approximately 36,000 km altitude above earth surface. Each satellite is configured around I1K bus and is continuously monitored and maintained by ground segment.