Artistic rendition of an IRSS satellite.

[Satnews] The seventh and last satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System—IRNSS-1G—will be launched during the last week of April, a senior India Space Research Organisation official has stated in a published news report from India's The Economic Times.

The official said the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C33 will carry the satellite with a lift-off mass of 1,425 kg from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, in Sriharikota, India. IRNSS-1G is the last satellite of the seven satellites that constitute the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).

IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID, 1E and IF, the first six satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 2, 2013, April 4, 2014, October 16, 2014, March 28, 2015, January 20, 2016 and March 10, 2016 respectively. The constellation of seven satellites was planned by ISRO to constitute IRNSS, which would be on par with the US-based GPS system, once the full complement of spacecrafts are launched. While four satellites would be sufficient to start operations of the IRNSS system, the remaining three would make it more accurate and efficient.

IRNSS, the independent regional navigation satellite system is designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1,500 km around the Indian mainland. Two types of services are to be provided, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS)—provided to all users—and Restricted Services (RS), provided to authorized users.

A number of ground stations responsible for generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite ranging and monitoring have already been established in 18 locations across the country.