3 Navigation Satellites to be Launched by 2026

General Studies Paper-3

Context

• ISRO will launch three more navigation satellites, NVS-03, NVS-04, and NVS-05, by 2026 to bolster the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).

Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC)

• Established by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NavIC is India’s autonomous regional navigation satellite system, designed to fulfill both civilian and military navigational needs.
• NavIC was erstwhile known as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
• It provides precise Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) services within India and extends up to 1,500 km beyond the country’s borders, forming its primary service area.
• NavIC is designed with a constellation of 7 satellites and a network of ground stations operating 24 x 7.
• Three satellites of the constellation are placed in geostationary orbit and four satellites are placed in inclined geosynchronous orbit.
• The ground network consists of a control centre, precise timing facility, range and integrity monitoring stations, two-way ranging stations, etc.
• NavIC offers two services: Standard Position Service (SPS) for civilian users and Restricted Service (RS) for strategic users.
• It provides location accuracy better than 20 meters and timing accuracy better than 40 nanoseconds across the core service area.
• Currently only four out of the seven satellites in the current constellation are fully functional.

NVS Series

• These are five second-generation NavIC satellites — NVS-01 to NVS-05 and are planned to enhance the existing constellation.
• These satellites incorporate L1 band communication, which broadens NavIC’s compatibility and usability for diverse applications.
• NVS-01, the first of the second-generation satellites, was launched in 2023.
• For the first time, an indigenous atomic clock was flown in NVS-01.
• NVS-02 was launched in January 2025.

Significance

• The first batch launched in the previous decades has been successful in establishing the Personal Navigation Device (PND) services in the country.
• The NVS series is the second generation of these satellites that are progressively being deployed to further strengthen the PND ecosystem in the nation.
• Many applications based on NavIC spanning from strategic uses, tracking of shipping vessels, time synchronization, train tracking and safety of alert life dissemination are accomplished.