Amid the
success of India's Mars Orbiter Mission to the Red Planet, Isro
scientists are working towards the launch of the country's next rocket
PSLV-C26, which would carry IRNSS 1C satellite, the third in the IRNSS
series from Sriharikota on October 9.
"We are working towards the
launch of IRNSS 1C, which is tentatively scheduled around 2 am on
October 9. The stacking of PSLV C26 stage 2 has been completed. This is
identical to the earlier ones in the series IRNSS 1A and IRNSS 1B. The
countdown for the launch would be a bit longer for over 60 hours and
likely to commence on October 6," a senior Isro official told PTI.
As
part of its aspirations to build a regional navigational system
equivalent to Global Positioning System of the US, Isro had planned to
send seven satellites to put in place the Indian Regional Navigational
Satellite System (IRNSS).
The first two satellites in the series,
IRNSS 1A and IRNSS 1B, were launched from Sriharikota on July 1 last
year and April 4 this year respectively.
Isro needs to launch at least four of the seven satellites to start the operations of the IRNSS, the official added.
Being
developed by India, IRNSS is designed to provide accurate position
information service to users in the country as well as the region
extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service
area.
IRNSS' applications include terrestrial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management.
IRNSS
is similar to US' Global Positioning System, Russia's Glonass and
Europe's Galileo. China and Japan too have similar systems named Beidou
and Japanese Quasi Zenith Satellite System respectively, Isro officials
said.
ISRO's Record Launch of 104 Satellites on Single Rocket Set for Today14 February 2017
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