India’s Regional Navigation System Will Get A New Satellite On 12 April To Improve Its Accuracy

Just days after it lost contact with its communication satellite GSAT-6A over 48 hours after launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to launch navigation satellite IRNSS-1I, Times of India has reported.

The new satellite, which will be launched by PSLV-C41 rocket on 12 April, will replace the faulty IRNSS-1A navigation satellite in the Indian Navigation Satellite Constellation. IRNSS-1A had failed due to deficiencies in three atomic clocks that are required to provide accurate positional information to users on earth. The three navigation clocks failed over a period of three months.

The upcoming launch will be ISRO’s second attempt to replace the satellite with faulty atomic clocks. Earlier, ISRO had attempted to replace the faulty satellite by launching IRNSS-1H. The satellite failed after it got stuck inside the rocket's heat shield.

The new navigation satellite has already reached the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota after it was transported from Bengaluru last month.

According to Bangalore Mirror, this will be the first time that the testing, assembling and integration of the satellite have been entirely done by the private sector.