Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System

Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC)
Logo of NavIC
Country/ies of origin India
Operator(s)ISRO
TypeMilitary, Commercial
StatusOperational
CoverageRegional (up to 1,500 km or 930 mi from borders)
Accuracy3 m or 9.8 ft (public)
2 m or 6 ft 7 in (encrypted)
Constellation size
Nominal satellites5
Current usable satellites
List
  • IRNSS-

    1B/1C/1D/1F/1I (Operational)

    1A/1E/1G (Clock failure, short-message services only)

  • NVS-

    01 (Operational)

First launch1 July 2013; 11 years ago (1 July 2013)
Last launch29 May 2023
Total launches10
Orbital characteristics
Regime(s)geostationary orbit (GEO), inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO)
Orbital height35,786 km (22,236 mi)
Other details
Cost2,246 crore (US$269 million) as of March 2017[1]

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of NavIC (acronym for Navigation with Indian Constellation; also, nāvik 'sailor' or 'navigator' in Indian languages),[2] is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system that provides accurate real-time positioning and timing services.[3] It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km (930 mi) around it, with plans for further extension up to 3,000 km (1,900 mi).[4] An extended service area lies between the primary service area and a rectangle area enclosed by the 30th parallel south to the 50th parallel north and the 30th meridian east to the 130th meridian east, 1,500–6,000 km (930–3,730 mi) beyond borders where some of the NavIC satellites are visible but the position is not always computable with assured accuracy.[5] The system currently consists of a constellation of eight [6] satellites,[7][8] with two additional satellites on ground as stand-by.[9]

The constellation is in orbit as of 2018.[10][11][12][13] NavIC will provide two levels of service, the "standard positioning service", which will be open for civilian use, and a "restricted service" (an encrypted one) for authorised users (including the military).

NavIC-based trackers are compulsory on commercial vehicles in India[14][15] and some consumer mobile phones with support for it have been available since the first half of 2020.[16][17][18][19][20]

There are plans to expand the NavIC system by increasing its constellation size from 7 to 11.[21]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference cag was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "IRNSS-1G exemplifies 'Make in India', says PM". The Statesman. 28 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Satellites are in the sky, but long way to go before average Indians get Desi GPS | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 8 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Isro working to expand navigation system NaVIC coverage to 3,000 km from 1,500 km beyond India". The Times of India. 27 September 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  5. ^ "IRNSS Programme - ISRO". isro.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  6. ^ "NavIC: How is India's very own navigation service different from US-owned GPS?". Firstpost. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Orbit height and info". Archived from the original on 30 December 2015.
  8. ^ "IRNSS details". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference twostand was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Rohit KVN (28 May 2017). "India's own GPS IRNSS NavIC made by ISRO to go live in early 2018". International Business Times.
  11. ^ "Isro's PSLV-C32 places India's sixth navigation satellite IRNSS-1F in orbit". The Times of India.
  12. ^ "ISRO puts seventh and final IRNSS navigation satellite into orbit". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  13. ^ "IRNSS-1I up in space, completes first phase of Indian regional navigation constellation". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  14. ^ "Government of India, Ministry of Space, Lok Sabha - Unstarred Question number: 483 on Progress of IRNSS". 20 November 2019. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Government of India, Ministry of Space, Lok Sabha, Unstarred Question No: 675 on Indigenous GPS". 26 June 2019. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  16. ^ "After Isro-Qualcomm pact, NavIC-compatible mobiles, navigation devices to hit market next year". The Times of India. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  17. ^ "NavIC: List of Supported Phones and Difference between NavIC and GPS". Get Droid Tips. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Qualcomm Clears Confusion Over NavIC Support on Snapdragon Devices". NDTV Gadgets 360. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  19. ^ "NavIC: Supported Phones & How is it Better than GPS?". DealNTech. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  20. ^ Sha, Arjun (4 March 2020). "List of Smartphones with NavIC Support (Regularly Updated)". Beebom. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Navigation satellite clocks ticking; system to be expanded: ISRO". The Economic Times. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.