Isro chips to get satellite signals

Chennai: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has designed chips to receive  signal from satellites of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, which can be used in handheld devices and vehicles to know the exact position.

“The chips are crucial to receiving the signal in a handheld device from satellites. Many industrial establishments have shown interest to produce them in large- scale,” Isro scientists said.

IRNSS can be used in ships, planes, tanks and all transport vehicles to monitor  vehicle movement. “The position accuracy of IRNSS has improved to better than

20 metres after the launch of fifth satellite IRNSS-1E,” they said. IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellite of IRNSS constellation, is set to be launched from Sathish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on March 10.  The PSLV-C32 rocket will launch IRNSS-1F from the second launch pad at 4 pm. “With this launch,  position accuracy will get better. The navigational system will be fully operational after the launch of IRNSS-1G, the seventh and final satellite of constellation. It is expected to be launched by the end of next month (April),” scientists said.

“After launching all satellites, Isro will do the validation process. It will take some time. Then only the navigation system will be available to the common users. It can replace the GPS in the region,” they added.

The 54 hour 30 minutes countdown of PSLV-C32/ IRNSS-1F mission started on Tuesday morning. IRNSS-1F has a lift-off mass of 1,425 kg. It will be launched into a sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (sub-GTO) with a 284 km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and 20,657 km apogee (farthest point to Earth).

It carries two types of payloads namely navigation payload and ranging payload. The navigation payload will transmit navigation service signals to users. The mission life of the satellite is 12 years.

Currently, IRNSS ground segment is operational on a 24x7 basis with 13 Indian Range and Integrity Monitoring Stations (IRIMS), one IRNSS Network Timing Centre (IRNWT), one ISRO Navigation Centre (INC) and Spacecraft Control Facility (SCF) with its data communication network.

Along with the deployment of seven satellite constellation, the entire ground segment is planned to be established. IRNSS  is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India to provide accurate position information service to users in the country and the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary. The main objective of this system is to provide reliable position, navigation and timing services to India and its neighbourhood.