India’s space agency, ISRO, celebrated a historic milestone on Wednesday morning with the launch of its 100th mission.
A Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) lifted off from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh at 6:23 a.m., carrying the NVS-02 navigation satellite into orbit.
Announcing the success, ISRO said on X: “LIFTOFF! The GSLV-F15 has successfully taken flight, carrying NVS-02 into its planned orbit. Stay tuned for more mission updates!”
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh, hailed the mission as a “historic moment,” congratulating ISRO “for achieving the landmark milestone.”
In a post on X, Singh said: “It’s a privilege to be associated with the Department of Space at the historic moment of this record feat.”
He added: “From a humble beginning by Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan and few others, it has been an amazing journey. And a quantum leap after PM Sh@narendramodi “unlocked” the Space sector and instilled the confidence that “sky is Not the limit”.
The GSLV-F15 flight is the 17th mission of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and the 11th successful mission using an indigenous cryogenic stage. This flight also marks the 8th operational flight of GSLV featuring the indigenous cryogenic stage.
The NVS-02 satellite is a crucial addition to India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system, a regional navigation satellite system designed to provide precise Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) services to users in India and regions up to 1,500 km beyond its borders.
This launch updates India’s Regional Navigation Satellite System from four to five satellites, enhancing service reliability and performance.
“The NVS-02 satellite is the second generation of NavIC satellites, featuring a standard I-2K bus platform. It will have a lift-off mass of 2,250 kg, power handling capability of around 3 kW, navigation payload in L1, L5, and S bands, ranging payload in C-band and will be positioned at 111.75 degrees E, replacing IRNSS-1E,” ISRO said.
NavIC will offer two types of services: Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). The SPS delivers position accuracy of better than 20 meters and timing accuracy of better than 40 nanoseconds across its service area.
