ISRO to launch India's first private navigation satellite IRNSS-1H today

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday will launch India's first private navigation satellite ‘IRNSS-1H’ to augment the existing seven satellites of the NavIC constellation. 

The satellite will be launched on board PSLV-C39, IRNSS-1H which is the ‘back-up’ navigation satellite for IRNSS-1A, one of the seven satellites in the NavIC constellation, as its three rubidium atomic clocks on board had stopped functioning.

”The 29-hr countdown operations of the PSLV-C39/IRNSS-1H mission have started on Wednesday at 14:00 hrs IST,” ISRO said. 

The satellite is scheduled to be launched on Thursday at 7:00 PM from the Second Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Also Read: ISRO’s IRNSS-1G satellite launch: 5 facts about India's 'back-up' navigation system

Mission Readiness Review (MRR) committee and Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) had on Tuesday cleared the 29-hour countdown. 

The launch vehicle PSLV-C39 will use the ‘XL’ version of PSLV equipped with six strap-ons, each carrying 12 tons of propellant. 

The over 1,400 kg spacecraft was built and tested by ISRO along with a consortium of six small and medium industries. 

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is an independent regional navigation satellite system developed by India on par with US-based GPS. 

The system that offers services like terrestrial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, navigation aide for hikers and travellers, visual and voice navigation for drivers, was named ‘NavIC’ (Navigation with Indian Constellation) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

ISRO had launched seven satellites - IRNSS-1G on April 28, 2016, IRNSS-1F (March 10, 2016), IRNSS-1E (January 20, 2016), IRNSS-1D (March 28, 2015), IRNSS-1C (October 16, 2014), IRNSS-1B (April 4, 2014) and IRNSS-1A on July 1, 2013. 

According to ISRO officials, the total cost of all the seven satellites was Rs 1,420 crore.

(With PTI inputs)