India got a step closer to establishing indigenous alternative to United States-owned global positioning system or GPS by launching the second of the seven navigation satellites.
Called the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1B, the payload lifted successfully on PSLV-C24 rocket from Sriharikota at 5.14 pm. Less than a minute later, the satellite was in the orbit. Once operational by 2016, the IRNSS system will offer navigational services for defence purposes in India and 1,500 km beyond its borders.This was the 26th flight of Indian space programme’s workhorse PSLV, and the 25th consecutive success at that. “We will launch two more satellites this year and another three in the beginning of 2015. By mid of 2015 all the seven satellites will be in orbit,” said Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan.
No comments:
Post a Comment