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The 'Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System' ('IRNSS') is a developmental autonomous regional satellite navigation system that is being constructed^[1] and is controlled by the Indian government. It is intended to provide an absolute position accuracy of better than 20 meters throughout India and within a region extending approximately 1,500 to 2,000 km around it. A goal of complete Indian control has been stated, with the space segment, ground segment and user receivers all being built in India. The government approved the project in May 2006, with the intention it be implemented within six to seven years.
It is unclear if recent dealings with the Russian government to restore their GLONASS system will supersede the IRNSS project or feed additional technical support to enable its completion.

Contents

Technical Details

References

Also see

References and Footnotes

Technical Details

The proposed system would consist of a constellation of seven satellites and a support ground segment. Three of the satellites in the constellation will be placed in geostationary orbit and the remaining four in geosynchronous inclined orbit of 29° relative to the equatorial plane. Such an arrangement would mean all seven satellites would have continuous radio visibility with Indian control stations. The satellite payloads would consist of atomic clocks and electronic equipment to generate the navigation signals. The navigation signals themselves would be transmitted in the S-band frequency (2-4 GHz) and broadcast through a phased array antenna to maintain required coverage and signal strength. The satellites would weigh approximately 1,330 kg and their solar panels generate 1,400 watts of energy.
The ground segment of IRNSS constellation would consist of a Master Control Center (MCC), ground stations to track and estimate the satellites' orbits and ensure the integrity of the network (IRIM), and additional ground stations to monitor the health of the satellites with the capability of issuing radio commands to the satellites (TT&C stations). The MCC would estimate and predict the position of all IRNSS satellites, calculate integrity, makes necessary ionospheric and clock corrections and run the navigation software. In pursuit of a highly independent system, an Indian standard time infrastructure would also be established.

References

1. India to build a constellation of 7 navigation satellites by 2012

Also see

★ GAGAN

★ Global Navigation Satellite System

★ GPS

References and Footnotes

# SATNAV Industry Meet 2006. ISRO Space India Newsletter. April - September 2006 Issue.
1. India to build a constellation of 7 navigation satellites by 2012