India on Friday inched closer towards setting up a regional navigation satellite system of its own by successfully deploying the second satellite of the proposed fleet of spacecraft in a pre-determined orbit in the space.
The satellite IRNSS-1B (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1B) was deployed by a polar satellite launch vehicle which blasted off from Satish Dhavan Space Centre, the country’s gateway to the skies, at Sriharikotta in Andhra Pradesh.
The vehicle PSlV-C24 lifted off from the space port as per the schedule prepared by the engineers of the Indian Space Research Organisation. Team ISRO had reasons to celebrate Friday’s launch as it was the 25th successive successful launch of the PSlV, described as India’s trusted workhorse.
The PSlV-C24 injected the 1432 kg satellite IRNSS-1B into the pre-determined orbit 19 minutes after the vehicle roared into the skies. later, K Radhakrishnan, chairman, ISRO told the nation from the Mission Control Room that his team of engineers were successful in injecting the country’s second regional navigation satellite IRNSS-1B “very precisely”. “The IRNSS-1B has been injected into an orbit which is 283 km nearer and 20,630 km farthest from the earth,” said the ISRO chairman.
The IRNSS, which envisages the deployment of seven navigation satellites, will provide users accurate position information. The service will be available in India as well as in a region up to 1500 km from the country’ territory. The ISRO had launched IRNSS-1A, the first satellite of this fleet, on July 10, 2013. Radhakrishnan said the ISRO team is continuously monitoring the satellite and the results are encouraging. The IRNSS will become fully operational only with the deployment of all the seven satellites. “We have scheduled to launch IRNSS-1C and 1D by the end of this year. By early 2015, we will launch the remaining three satellites and by mid-2015 we will have the IRNSS fully operational,” said Radhakrishnan.