IRNSS-1F: ISRO’s sixth navigation satellite launched successfully

India successfully put its sixth navigation satellite into the intended orbit in a launch that is just one step away from having its own regional navigation satellite system that will be on par with the US-based Global Positioning System.

With this success, India has now moved closer towards joining a select group of countries, which have their own satellite navigation system.

IMPORTANT FACTS OF IRNSS-

* The IRNSS will provide two types of services -- standard positioning service and restricted service. The former is provided to all users and the latter is an encrypted service for authorised users.

* The IRNSS-1F has been launched into a sub-Geosynchronous transfer orbit with a 284-km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and 20,657-km apogee (farthest point to Earth).

* The satellite carries two types of payloads — navigation payload and ranging payload.

* The navigation payload will transmit navigation service signals to users while the other consists of a C-band transponder that facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite.

* IRNSS-1F is the sixth in the series of seven satellites proposed under the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS).

* The IRNSS has come to be known as the country’s own GPS

* The system comprises of total seven satellites. The first five satellites of the series namely IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E were launched in July 2013, April 2014, October 2014, March 2015 and January 2016 respectively.

* ISRO scientists plan to put all seven navigation satellites into orbit by March 2016. Once all the seven satellites are in the orbit it will provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region.