India's own Navigation Satellite System

Monday, September 24, 2018

India's own Navigation Satellite System


India is working on it's own Navigation System called as NAViC. NAViC  means a sailor in Sanskrit and many other Indian Language.  The launch of satellites, maintenance and operations are headed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

This article includes: (feel free to jump-over to what ever interests you.)

Operations

The NAViC system presently consists of seven constellation satellite. And two as a backup satellites. As of the date all the seven satellites are in place. After a check the system will be put in use. 

The system will provide two services one for civilian use and the other for military use. The system meant for Military is encrypted, means no body can access it.

All the satellites of NAViC are at Higher Earth orbit. (About 36000km) whereas GPS are at a Medium Earth orbit.


Range and Accuracy

The India's own Navigation system has a range up-to 6000 km beyond it's borders. NAViC can be used upto certain parts of Africa Continent in the west and to China's East end including some areas of Australia.

Approximate range of NAViC
Approximate range of NAViC
Image Source: Brilliantwiki2


The NAViC is said to have the accuracy of 20m to for civilian use and 0.1m for military use. Though the accuracy for the civilian can be increased upto 10m with the help of cellular signal.

The NAViC system makes use of both S and L signals. A messaging interface is built in the system with the help of which Controller can send the messages to a specific area. It could be used to alert the fishermen of a bad weather climate.

Cost

The NAViC was expected to be operational by 2015 but the project was delayed owiung to several reasons. One being that two of the satellites have failed. Till March 2017, NAViC has costed about 2,246 crores.

When there is GPS why is India building it's own Navigation System?

You might be wondering there is GPS available, then why is that India spending crores to build it's own system. The GPS is controlled by foreign government, and it cannot be gurateeed that India will have access to GPS system under Hostile Conditions.

The American Government back in 1999 denied India to access GPS during Kargil war. Hence India is working on it's own NAViC, a better version than GPS.

List of Satellites Launched

  • IRNSS-1A - 1 July 2013 Failed in Orbit (Atomic Clock Failure)
  • IRNSS-1B - 4 April 2014
  • IRNSS-1C - 16 October 2014
  • IRNSS-1D - 28 March 2015
  • IRNSS-1E - 20 January 2016
  • IRNSS-1F - 10 March 2016
  • IRNSS-1G - 28 April 2016
  • IRNSS-1H - 31 August 2017 Launch Failure
  • IRNSS-1I - 12 April 2018

GPS vs NAViC


GPS NAViC
Accuracy for Civilian use 20m 20m
Accuracy for Military use Unknown(Classified) 0.1m(reports)
Coverage Global Regional
Regime Higher Earth orbit Medium Earth orbit
Number of Satellites 32 7
Signal Only L type Both L and S type

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