The Hindu

To be operational by 2011-12, it will be optimised for the specific needs of users in the country 

Bangalore, Jul 6: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has begun work on setting up the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS). The IRNSS will be used to provide location information to users. ISRO officials said that the system would be developed indigenously and would be optimised for the specific needs of users in the country. The Rs. 1,200-crore project received the green signal from the Union Cabinet in May this year. The project would be implemented over India in the next five to six years. ISRO officials said that the project would be operational by 2011-12.

K.N. Shankara, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), said that the IRNSS would consist of a constellation of seven satellites and a large ground segment. The entire system would be under Indian control. The space and ground segments and user receivers would be built in India. "The IRNSS constellation is based on GEO and inclined GSO satellites. It will be totally under our control unlike the other constellations. The work on the system has begun," he said. He also said that the system was intended to be independent of other constellations providing comparable accuracies.

Officials said that the first satellite for the constellation would be launched some time in 2008-09. Three satellites would be placed in the geo-synchronous transfer orbit, while the remaining four would be in geo-stationary orbit. All satellites would be identical and would weigh around 600 kg. ISRO officials said that the programme was extremely challenging technologically. Through the programme, India would take a step towards providing infrastructure for the provision on position, navigation and timing (PNT) services throughout the country and in the neighbouring areas. The technological challenges include developing the satellites; atomic time standard; establishment of earth stations and master control stations; critical, safety and verification sub-systems; navigation software written to DO-178B standards, GNSS user receiver manufacturer and time transfer technology.

Since the GPS (Global Positioning System) cannot provide the accuracy, integrity, continuity and availability required for the life-critical applications of civil aviation, the Government and ISRO decided to set up the IRNSS.

Opportunities

The IRNSS will help open up opportunities for civil aviation and civil applications. That means that fleet operators, with help from the IRNSS, will be able to increase their operating efficiency. The system will help track a bus, rail cargo or water vessel and identify where it is at any given point of time. Mobile phones will no longer be a signal receiver. With IRNSS, the mobile phones of the future will turn into navigators.