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IANS
Sriharikota
India early on Thursday put into orbit navigation satellite IRNSS-1I, a part of Indian satellite navigation system NavIC in copy-book style. The 1,425 kg satellite was carried into space by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket's 'XL'variant.
"The satellite is in good health. The first orbit raising operation of IRNSS-1I is planned to be done at 4.15 a.m. on April 13, 2018,"a senior ISRO official told IANS.
On Friday the navigation satellite will be moved up to a perigee height (nearest point to earth) of 322 km and apogee height of 35,887 km, the Indian space agency said. Ultimately the satellite will be placed in a Geostationary orbit at 36,000 km height. On Thursday morning at 4.04 a.m., the four stage/engine PSLV-XL rocket, standing 44.4 metres tall and weighing 321 tonnes, blasted off from the first launch pad. Just over 19 minutes into the flight, the rocket achieved a Sub Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit with a perigee Aof 281.5 km and an apogee of 20,730 km inclined at an angle of 19.2 degree to the equator following which IRNSS-1I separated from PSLV. The solar panels of IRNSS-1I were deployed automatically.
ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan, Karnataka took over the control of the satellite Simply put, NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation, earlier the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System or IRNSS) is the Indian 'GPS'. After the successful launch, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K. Sivan said:"I am extremely happy to announce that the PSLV has precisely injected the navigation satellite in the targetted orbit."
He said ISRO is moving towards to get the rocket and satellite through industry. Sivan said over the next eight months, ISRO has planned nine launch missions including the moon mission towards the end of the year. The Rs 1,420 crore Indian satellite navigation system NavIC consists of nine satellites -- seven in orbit and two as substitutes.
The fully operational system is expected to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region, extending up to an area of 1,500 km. One of the substitutes was the IRNSS-1H as the in IRNSS-1A's rubidium atomic clocks, important for giving accurate positional data, had failed.
