GSLV-F12 successfully places second gen. navigation satellite into intended orbit: ISRO
Sriharikota, (AP) (PTI): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday successfully launched a second generation navigation satellite, using a GSLV rocket with a cryogenic upper stage to do the job.
NVS-01 would augment the country's regional navigation system, providing accurate and real-time navigation.
At the end of a 27.5 hour countdown, the 51.7 metre tall, 3-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off at a prefixed time of 10.42 am from the second launch pad at this spaceport, situated about 130 km from Chennai. This was GSLV's 15th flight.
The second generation navigation satellite series dubbed as a significant launch would ensure the continuity of NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) services -- an Indian regional satellite navigation system, similar to the GPS, providing accurate and real-time navigation.
Signals from NavIC are designed to provide user position accurate to better than 20 metres and timing accuracy better than 50 nanoseconds.
ISRO Chairman S Somanath congratulated the entire team for the "excellent outcome" of the mission.
"NVS-01 has been placed in precise orbit by GSLV. Congratulations to the entire ISRO team for making the mission happen," he said in his post-launch address from the Mission Control Center.
Today's success came after the GSLV F10 'debacle,' he said referring to the anomaly in the cryogenic stage of the launch vehicle in August 2021, following which the then mission could not be realised.
He expressed joy that "corrections in cryogenic stage and lessons learnt have really paid benefits" and credited the Failure Analysis Committee for addressing the problem.
Somanath further said NVS-01 is a second generation satellite with additional capabilities. The signals will be more secure, civilian frequency band has been introduced, he said. This was one of the five of such satellites.
The rocket, a little short of 20 minutes after it took off, deployed the 2,232 kg satellite into the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) at an altitude of about 251 km.
NVS-01 carried navigation payloads L1, L5 and S bands and the second generation satellite also has an indigenously developed rubidium atomic clock.
It is for the first time that an indigenously developed rubidium atomic clock has been used as the scientists earlier opted for imported ones to determine date and location.
Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre has developed the clock, and according to ISRO, it assumes significance as it is an important technology that only a handful of countries possess.
ISRO developed the NavIC system to meet the positioning, navigation and timing requirements of the country, particularly with regard to civil aviation and military requirements.
NavIC was earlier known as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
"The L1 navigation band is popular for providing position, navigation and timing services for civilian users and for interoperability with other GNSS (global navigation satellite system) signals," ISRO said.
Some of the applications of NavIC include terrestrial, aerial and maritime navigation, precision agriculture, location-based services in mobile devices and marine fisheries, among many others.
NavIC offers two services -- Standard Position Service (SPS) for civilian users and Restricted Service for strategic users.
NavIC SPS signals are interoperable with the US global navigation satellite system signals, GPS, Glonass from Russia, Galileo (European Union) and BeiDou, China.
Monday's mission is the sixth operational flight of the GSLV with indigenous cryogenic stages. The mission life of NVS-01 is expected to be better than 12 years, ISRO said.
ISRO has already launched similar navigation satellites--IRNSS-1A,IRNSS-1B,IRNSS-1C, IRNSS-1D, IRNSS-1E,IRNSS-1F,IRNSS-1G, IRNSS-1H and IRNSS-1I.
Of these missions, IRNSS-1H was not successful as the satellite could not be placed into orbit. It was replaced by IRNSS-1I which was successfully launched on April 12, 2018.
VIDEO | ISRO successfully places navigation satellite NVS-01 into geosynchronous transfer orbit. GSLV-F12 rocket, carrying the satellite, lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota High Altitude Range. pic.twitter.com/mvVg6IHFeF
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SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Saturday announced a series of special trains, in coordination with Central, South Eastern and Southern Railways, to clear stranded passengers following large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations across the country.
The special services will operate between December 6 and 10 on high-demand routes, including Bengaluru–Chennai, Bengaluru–Pune, Yesvantpur–Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shalimar–Yelahanka and Ernakulam–Yelahanka, officials said.
According to an official statement, SWR will run Train No. 06255/06256 between Chennai Egmore and KSR Bengaluru, 06257/06258 between Bengaluru and MGR Chennai Central, 06259/06260 between Yesvantpur and Hazrat Nizamuddin, and 06263/06264 between Bengaluru and Pune.
ALSO READ: Indigo flights chaos: SCR to run special trains to clear passenger rush
Central Railway will operate Train No. 01413/01414 between Pune and Bengaluru, while South Eastern Railway will run Train No. 08073/08074 between Shalimar and Yelahanka. Southern Railway will operate Train No. 06147/06148 between Ernakulam and Yelahanka, the statement said.
Railways has advised passengers to check updated timings on its official channels and arrive early at stations.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggage has been misplaced.
