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Sunday, January 24, 2016

India launches 5th Navigation Satellite onboard PSLV-C31

ISRO has launched PSLV-C31 rocket on Wednesday, 20th January, 2016.  The Rocket carried the fifth navigtion satellite of India - IRNSS-1E and launched it into its orbit.  With this launch, India is closer to having its own global positioning system (GPS).  Two more satellites are to be launched in this constellation.

The PSLV-C31 blasted off from the Second Launch Pad of the Space port of India - Sriharikota as per schedule.   The rocket took off at 9:31 AM  IST. The life span of the satellite is 12 years.

The constellation of 7 satellites is planned to be completed this year itself.  The full system comprises of 9 satellites - seven in the orbit and two on the ground as stand-by.   The first satellite in the constellation - IRNSS-1A was launched in July, 2013,  the second in April, 2014, the third in October, 2014 and the fourth one was launched in March, 2015.  

Once the Regional Navigation System, India need not depend on other platforms for GPS services.  The IRNSS satellites two types of payloads - One is Navigation payload and the other is Ranging payload.  The navigation payload of IRNSS-1E will transmit navigation signals to the users.  This payload will operate in L5 band and S-Band.

A highly accurate rubidium atomic clock is a part of the navigation payload.  The ranging payload of this satellite consists of C-band transponder which facilitate accurate range of the satellite.  The IRNSS-1E also carries corner cube retro reflectors for laser ranging.

As PSLV-C31 soared into the blue sky at the end of 48 hours count down, all the four stages of the launch vehicle executed their functions as expected.  The two solar panels of IRNSS-1E were deployed automatically after injection of the satellite into the geo transfer orbit.  The orbit raising operations would be done from the Master Control Facility in Karnataka.  The weight of IRNSS-1E is 1,425 Kg.

Here is a live video showing the launch of PSLV-C31.