The 29-hour countdown for today’s launch of navigation satellite ‘IRNSS-1H’ to augment the existing seven satellites of the NavIC constellation began on Wednesday.

To be launched on board PSLV-C39, IRNSS-1H will be a back-up navigation satellite for IRNSS-1A, one of the seven satellites in the constellation, as its three rubidium atomic clocks on board had stopped functioning.

“The 29-hr countdown operations of PSLV-C39/IRNSS-1H mission have started on Wednesday at 14:00 hrs IST,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

The launch scheduled at 19:00 Hrs from the Second Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) committee and Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) had on Tuesday cleared the 29-hour countdown.

The launch vehicle PSLV-C39 will use the ‘XL’ version of PSLV equipped with six strap-ons, each carrying 12 tons of propellant.

NAMED BY PM MODI

The over 1,400 kg spacecraft built and tested by ISRO along with a consortium of six small and medium industries.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) an independent regional navigation satellite system developed by India on par with US-based GPS.

The system that offers services like terrestrial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, navigation aide for hikers and travellers, visual and voice navigation for drivers, was named ‘NavIC’ (Navigation with Indian Constellation) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ISRO had launched seven satellites – IRNSS-1G on April 28, 2016, IRNSS-1F (March 10, 2016), IRNSS-1E (January 20, 2016), IRNSS-1D (March 28, 2015), IRNSS-1C (October 16, 2014), IRNSS-1B (April 4, 2014) and IRNSS-1A on July 1, 2013.

According to ISRO officials, the total cost of all the seven satellites was Rs 1,420 crore.

HOW WILL IT HELP US? 

According to ISRO, NavIC is useful for fishermen to reach the potential fishing area. The fishermen can also get alert messages relating to bad weather, high waves or when they approach international maritime boundary line.

These services are provided through a software application on a smart phone.

The Indian space agency also said NavIC is useful for merchant ships in their navigation and also during search and rescue operations.

In the road transport sector, NavIC helps commuters to traverse distances and also enable transport operators to track their vehicles.

According to ISRO, the navigation system is also helpful for railways in tracking trains and also giving an alert in the case of unmanned level crossing.

The Indian space agency said NavIC also used for other applications like location-based services, survey and alignment, time synchronised services

NavIC provides two types of services — standard positioning service and restricted service. The former  for all users while the latter an encrypted service for only authorised users.

Also read: ISRO: Countdown for launch of Indian replacement navigation satellite from today