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ISRO’s NavIC Faces Setback After Atomic Clock Failure in IRNSS-1F
India’s navigation system NavIC has faced an operational setback due to the failure of an atomic clock in the IRNSS-1F satellite, reducing the number of fully functional satellites below the required level for accurate positioning.
NavIC (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) :
| Aspect | Key Details |
|---|---|
| Name | NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), earlier known as IRNSS. |
| Developed By | Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). |
| Purpose | Provides positioning, navigation and timing services. |
| Constellation Structure | Designed with 7 satellites in high Earth orbit at about 36,000 km. |
| Orbital Configuration | Comprises 3 Geostationary Orbit (GEO) satellites and 4 Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO) satellites. |
| Coverage | Covers entire India and up to 1,500 km beyond Indian borders. |
| Frequencies | Operates on dual frequencies L5 band and S band. |
| Ground Segment | Includes control centres, precise timing facilities, range and integrity monitoring stations and two-way ranging stations operating continuously. |
| Services | Standard Positioning Service (open for civilians, accuracy ~10–20 m) and Restricted Service (encrypted for authorised users). |
| Applications | Used in defence navigation, disaster alerts, vehicle tracking systems, railway and fleet management, and civilian navigation. |
| Interoperability | Compatible with GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (EU) and BeiDou (China). |
| Recent Setback | Atomic clock failure in IRNSS-1F satellite has reduced the number of fully operational satellites. |
| Operational Status | Currently only IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1I and NVS-01 are fully operational for navigation. |
| Minimum Requirement | At least 4 satellites are required to determine accurate three-dimensional position. |