India Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C26, successfully launched IRNSS-1C, the third satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), in the early morning hours of October 16 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
This is the twenty seventh consecutively successful mission of PSLV. The ‘XL’ configuration of PSLV was used for this mission. The same configuration of the vehicle has been successfully used six times.
After the lift-off of PSLV-C26 with the ignition of the first stage, the stage and strap-on ignitions, heat-shield separation, stage and strap-on separations, and satellite injection, took place as planned.
After a flight of about 20 minutes 18 seconds, IRNSS-1C Satellite, weighing 1425 kg, was injected to an elliptical orbit of 282.56 km X 20,670 km, which is very close to the intended orbit.
After injection, the solar panels of IRNSS-1C were deployed automatically. ISRO’s Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka, assumed the control of the satellite. Four orbit manoeuvres have since been conducted from the Master Control Facility to position the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit at 83 deg East longitude.
IRNSS-1C is the third of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A and IRNSS-1B, the first two satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013 and April 04, 2014 respectively. Both IRNSS-1A and 1B are functioning satisfactorily from their designated geosynchronous orbital positions.
IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) – provided to all users – and Restricted Services (RS), provided to authorised users.
A number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in 15 locations across India.
In the coming months, the next satellite of this constellation, IRNSS-1D, is scheduled to be launched by PSLV. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015.
You can watch a video of the launch on YouTube.
