ISRO… New Navigation Center Opens (Event)

[SatNews] The state-run Indian space agency has opened a navigation centre near Bangalore for a proposed Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), a constellation of seven spacecraft that will enable users to know their location and time accurately. Located in the Deep Space Network (DSN) complex of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Byalalu, the navigation centre will function as the main ground station for the satellite system. The satellite system will be equipped with high precision atomic clocks and transmit navigation signals to multiple users round the clock.

The first of the navigation satellites (IRNSS-IA) will be launched in the wee hours of June 12th onboard the space agency’s home grown rocket (PSLV-C22 XL) from its spaceport at Sriharikota off the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh, about 90km from Chennai.

The navigation centre will also be responsible for the time reference, generation of navigation messages and monitoring and control of ground facilities, including ranging stations. A network of 21 ranging stations located across the country will provide data for the orbit determination of the satellites and monitoring of the navigation signal. The data from the ranging and monitoring stations is relayed to the data processing facility at the centre on real-time basis to generate navigation messages, which are in turn transmitted to the satellites through the spacecraft control facility of the space agency at Hassan in Karnataka (180 km from Bangalore) and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

The navigational satellites will provide an accurate real time position, navigation time (PNT) services to users in air, sea and land on a variety of platforms under all weather conditions. The navigation satellite system will provide two types of services—standard positioning service for civilian use and restricted service, which is encrypted, for authorised users (military and security). (Source: Zee News)