Indian Navigation satellite system by March

[Hindustani78]

Updated: October 30, 2015 09:47 IST
Navigation satellite system by March - The Hindu

Last three satellites of constellation to be launched next year.
India is expected to have its own satellite-based regional navigation system in place by next March, providing accurate position information service for terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking, fleet management and visual and voice navigation for drivers.

A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said here on Thursday that the constellation of seven satellites comprising the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) would be in orbit by March. The last three of the satellites were scheduled to be launched in January, February and March, he told the media on the sidelines of a function organised by the High Energy Materials Society of India.

Launched by PSLV rockets, the first four satellites of the constellation are already in orbit. ISRO has also established a satellite navigation centre at Byalalu in Karnataka. A network of ranging stations located across the country will provide data for the orbital determination of the satellites and monitoring of the navigation signal.

Mr. Kumar said the first experimental flight of the indigenously developed fully Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) would take place towards the beginning of 2016. The RLV-TD (Technology Demonstrator) was undergoing tests at VSSC from where it would be moved to Bengaluru and later to Srikarikotta for the launch. RLV has been conceived by ISRO as a space plane that will bring down the cost of satellite launch substantially.

In the first test flight, RLV-TD, weighing around 1.5 tonnes, would be launched to an altitude of 70 km atop a solid booster rocket and released. Re-entering the atmosphere, the thermally insulated vehicle will travel back to earth in a controlled descent, to be recovered from the sea. ISRO has plans to construct a 4-km runway at SHAR for the RLV to make a horizontal landing in the subsequent flights.

Mr. Kumar said preparations were underway for the first developmental flight of the GSLV Mark 3 scheduled to take place by December 2016.

The biggest rocket made in India, the Mk3 will be capable of launching four-tonne satellites into geosynchronous orbit. He said efforts were on to achieve the target of two launches per year, using the Mk2 configuration of GSLV that is currently capable of placing satellites up to 2.2 tonnes in orbit.

Mr. Kumar added that Chandrayaan 2, India’s second lunar exploration mission, was expected to be launched by 2018. The project involves the indigenous development of a lunar orbiter, lander and rover.

• First four satellites are already in orbit

• Chandrayaan 2 likely by 2018: ISRO Chairman

Last three satellites of constellation to be launched next year

 

[Hindustani78]

Navigation satellite system to be ready for operation in 2016: ISRO chairman - The Hindu
Updated: October 31, 2015 05:45 IST

A.S. Kiran Kumar chronicles the journey of ISRO since inception
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar on Friday said the constellation of seven satellites under the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) would be ready for operation in 2016. Four satellites had already been placed in the orbit.

Speaking on the topic ‘India in Space’ at the first centenary lecture series of the University of Mysore here, Prof. Kumar, while chronicling the journey of ISRO since its inception, said the premier space agency had taken part in 126 space missions since its beginning.

A total of 75 satellites, including Chandrayaan and the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), had been launched and 49 satellite launch vehicles had been developed.

Reliable launch vehicle

The PSLV has been a reliable launch vehicle and 51 satellites of 20 countries have been launched by it, he said.

Sharing the achievements and successes of ISRO since the time of Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India’s space programme, he explained how the space agency played a key role in the launch of television broadcast, which was earlier restricted only to four metros, across the country using the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE).

During his one-hour talk, Prof. Kumar spoke about communication satellites, , Bhuvan portal for ground water prospects, remote sensing satellites, climate change, surface water resources, etc. The space scientist said the world complimented India as Chandrayaan was the first mission to find water on the moon. “The recently launched Astrosat, a space observatory, had been given excellent results,” he said.

Prof. Kumar said ISRO had tied-up with 36 countries for various joint space programmes in view of financial constraints for such programmes.

While thanking the Union government for recognising ISRO’s achievements, the ISRO chairman said the agency had taken up various spin-off technologies like the development of artificial foot.

He also spoke about the collaborative experiments by the Indian space and NASA’s scientists.

Prof. Kumar said ISRO had laid emphasis on developing interest about space among people in rural areas by highlighting the achievements and contributions of the space agency. He cited the example of an expo by ISRO at Tiptur to develop interest about space among schoolchildren.

The space scientist mentioned a new initiative called ‘Space-based information support for decentralised planning’, which is aimed at capacity building of panchayat members, besides watershed development under Sujala project.

Registrar C. Basavaraj presided and introduced the guest. Prasaranga director C. Naganna compered.

ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar, Suttur Math pontiff Sri Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamiji, medal winners and rank holders during the 6th graduation at SJCE in Mysuru on Saturday. PHOTO: M.A.SRIRAM

Space technology has multiple benefits: ISRO chief - The Hindu


ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said here on Saturday that advances in satellite remote sensing, global navigation satellite systems and geographic information system has made it easier to integrate ecological and other information for developing predictive models for use in surveillance and control of diseases.

He was delivering the 6th Graduation Day address of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering in the city.

“Earth observation from space complimented with other applications was a cost -effective method for effective monitoring of environment and management of land, ocean and fresh water resources apart from providing essential data to decision-makers. Once converted into practical information, these data could be used to formulate policies and implement programmes at the national, regional and international levels,” said the ISRO Chairman.

Notting that technology offered opportunities to help address challenges and key social and individual needs, Mr. Kiran Kumar said that exploiting technology to tackle social issues and empower disadvantaged groups still remains significantly underexplored.

In all, 938 B.E, 216 M.Tech, 53 MCA and 127 MBA candidates were eligible to receive the degrees.

 

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The IRNSSA-1A is undergoing checks at Sriharikota before being taken to orbit. File Photo: ISRO

State View: Where Space drives life on Earth - The Hindu
Updated: November 1, 2015 03:07 IST
As location-based information using satellite data becomes increasingly important both in routine and strategic matters, the ISRO attempts to ramp up its SatelliteNavigation (SatNav) programme.


At a recent meeting of navigation satellite users in Bengaluru, an idea given by R. Advay, a school boy from Chennai, called ADVAY, , provided a likely answer to one of India’s most frequent maritime issues with its neighbours.

His idea — of using satellite navigation devices to keep fishermen within Indian waters — won the top award for students. That apart, two college students came up with another award-winning idea to safeguard women and children in distress: another growing concern these days across the country.

At the crux of many such critical ideas, it transpires, is your location at that given time. Add a map, a geo-image or an alarm to a hand-held device that has a navigation receiver, and help is at hand, according to Satellite Navigation (SatNav) exponents.

“Location-based information using satellite data is becoming increasingly important both in everyday and in strategic matters; it is touching our lives through compact hand-held devices such as mobile phones,” according to A.S. Ganeshan, Director of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s SatNav Programme — the group that co-hosted the user meet.

In a modern-day war, SatNav tells where to hit and when to dodge, military scientists present there said.

ISRO has a two-pronged SatNav plan: the GPS-aided GEO augmented Navigation (GAGAN); and the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).

Mr. Ganeshan described navigation as ‘the art of knowing where you are and moving towards where you want to go in the shortest possible time’. Satellite-aided navigation, he said, is set to positively change our lives in the coming years — touching areas ranging from agriculture, to fleet monitoring, weather prediction and locating people in distress.

“Humankind has used various navigation techniques. But the arrival of SatNav has revolutionised the world with innovative solutions that use position information. Today, without satellites, we would be lost,” he said, adding, “We will depend on them more and more as the years roll by” to tell position, navigation and time.

Government planners, emergency service providers, infrastructure companies and travellers — these are just some of the groups already leaning on precise position information from satellites. “There is no need to ask for directions any more. Thanks to SatNav, now you can simply zero in on the shop with the help of a Google or a Bhuvan map on your mobile phone.”

Ships need position information for docking, as also for harbour operations. Railways can use it to avoid collisions and for safety at unmanned level crossings. Power grids and banks must know the exact time of power transfers and money transactions.

A farmer can use fertilisers optimally and plant multiple crops, as Megha Maheshwari of ISRO’s Space Navigation Group showed with her prize-winning idea ‘Gramin’. Similarly, the flow of rivers like the Brahmaputra river, which notoriously keeps changing its course, can be tracked and people alerted against floods with SatNav-powered devices, such as a receiver on a buoy. “These devices are becoming a necessity, like wristwatches once were,” says Mr. Ganeshan. Add a communication feature to navigation and that makes a useful mix during disasters.

How will the use of SatNav unfold in the country? Mr. Ganeshan says several flagship programmes of the Government of India such as Digital India, Smart Cities and AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) can benefit from satellite-based navigation services — as a brainstorming national meeting in September showed.

Stakeholders such as chipset manufacturers, application developers, content providers and the user community are being sounded out about the opportunities. And we, the people, just need to have a device or a phone with a SatNav chip and receiver.

GAGAN enhances the values from the GPS, which is a system offered globally by the US Department of Defense. The Rs.700-crore-plus GAGAN has been jointly implemented by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), mainly to smoothen air traffic management across the Indian skies.

Suresh V. Kibe, former Programme Director for SatNav at ISRO headquarters, who is hailed as one of the fathers of Indian SatNav, notes that the Government of India recently advertised GAGAN as a next generation infrastructure project.

Dr. Kibe, who presided over GAGAN for over a decade since the time it was conceived, says, “It is a bonus that a system such as GAGAN, which enhances safety for airlines, can also be used for non-aviation use in India.”

ISRO is building the GPS-independent, national positioning system, the IRNSS. Four satellites are up. “By March 2016, we will have the remaining three spacecraft up and complete the IRNSS constellation,” ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar recently said.

Similar to the universally used GPS, Russia has its own GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) called GLONASS; Europe its GALILEO; and China its BeiDou. Each needs its own receiver. India and these governments are encouraging manufacturers of receivers and other hardware to put all SatNav systems, along with IRNSS and GAGAN, on the same receiver to make it easier and cheaper to use. A couple of high-end mobile phones already offer the two Indian signals.

In Mr. Ganeshan’s estimate, the usage of SatNav in the forthcoming years will be phenomenal. “The socio-economic benefits of satellite-based navigation will be tremendous and create many job opportunities. By 2022, the market for GNSS receivers alone is projected to increase to about $7 billion worldwide.”

The Asia Pacific region is one of the fastest growing regions for air traffic, as predicted by the International Air Traffic Association. Considering the rapid growth of civil aviation in the world, Dr. Kibe recalls that in the 1990s, the Future Air Navigation System committee of the International Civil Aviation Organisation recommended GNSS as the way forward for airports and air controllers to manage the boom.

Citing a European SatNav market assessment Mr. Ganeshan says, “Up to 95 per cent revenue in satellite navigation is predicted to come from location-based services and intelligent transport systems. Civil aviation may account for one per cent of it.”

With ISRO expecting IRNSS signals to become common by late 2016, we may not have to wait long to see where SatNav will take us.

Locational accuracy

Satellite navigation consists of satellites that provide spatial positioning and enables hand-held devices to determine accurate position, using time signals

• Current global satellite navigation systems

a) Global Positioning System (GPS): the most utilised system. Consists of up to 32 medium orbit satellites. Operational since 1978 and globally available since 1994

b) GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System): Consists of 24 satellites, operated by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces

c) DORIS (Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integrated by Satellite): French precision navigation system. Based on static emitting stations around the world. Limited in usage and coverage. Used with other traditional GNNS systems

• Under development
  a) Galileo: To be managed and operated by the European Union (EU) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Expected to be compatible with the modern GPS system. Expected to be operational after 2020.
  b) BeiDou: Managed by China. Currently functional in Asia-Pacific as a 16-satellite system. To be expanded into providing global coverage by 2020

• India has a two-pronged Satellite Navigation (SatNav) plan:
  a) GPS-aided GEO augmented Navigation (GAGAN)
  b) Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)

 

[Death In Fire]

Hope it will be able to guide PGMs with +/-3m accuracy.

 

[Hindustani78]

Hope it will be able to guide PGMs with +/-3m accuracy.

Patrol Gunboat Motor

 

[Death In Fire]

Patrol Gunboat Motor

Precision Guided Munitions