ISRO plans ambitious satellite navigation system

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is developing an India-specific navigation system at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore. This would be on the
lines of the Global Positioning System (GPS).

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), consisting of seven satellites, will be ready by 2011-12, according to G Madhavan Nair, ISRO chairman. The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, to be developed indigenously, will serve India’s country-specific needs by providing infrastructure for generating data on position, navigation, and timing. The data can also be used for various other applications such as agriculture, civil aviation, and fisheries.

“We have already begun work on the system. It will be totally under our control. As part of the project, three satellites would be placed in the geo-synchronous transfer orbit, while the rest four would be in geo-stationary orbit,” Nair said.

At present, the Global Positioning System is controlled by the United States Defence Department. Russia is also in the process of putting in orbit its own navigation system of 24 satellites, called Glonass, by 2009. Europe is building a satellite navigation system, Galileo, consisting of 30 satellites, which would be ready by 2012-13.

For the Chandrayaan 1 mission to Moon, planned for 2008, the ISRO may cooperate with Japanese Aerospace Exploratory Agency (Jaxa). Jaxa’s lunar mission, Madhavan Nair said, would take off soon and the ISRO is trying to use Jaxa’s data for India’s lunar mission. In return, the ISRO has have offered Jaxa tracking facility.

Chandrayaan 1 is slated to be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on April 9, 2008, according to Mylswamy Annadurai, project director of the mission. The launch windows would be available for the next two days in case the launch does not happen on that day.

The ISRO is also planning to launch a radar imaging satellite (Risat) in the second half of 2008. The mission, costing around Rs 250 crore, is envisaged to augment the operational remote sensing program in the country with the main objectives of enhancing agriculture and applications related to disaster support.

The Indian Space Research Organization already has a joint venture with Jaxa for sharing and using available space data for disaster management in
Asia. The ISRO is currently building a database for the project.

The ISRO collaborates with 26 countries for various missions and space applications, including the $60-million project for African countries. These countries will make use of space technology for various applications.

China is also looking at collaborating with the ISRO for building applications for agriculture and land management. It is also holding talks with the Indian
agency for using its training facility in Dehradun for space technology.

Extending the country’s space ambitions further, India intends to send a spacecraft (orbiter) to Mars, Madhavan Nair said. The Indian Space Research Organization has already made an announcement of opportunity to the scientific community, asking them “to suggest what are the scientific objectives they would like to achieve in having a Mars mission.” According to him, once concrete proposals are available, India will be able to undertake a Mars mission. India’s GSLV (geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle) can take a 500-kg spacecraft to the Martian orbit.