'Proud Milestone!': ISRO Completes 100th Mission With Successfully Launch Of Advanced Navigation Satellite NVS-02 - VIDEO

Bengaluru: In a historic milestone, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday launched its 100th mission. The ISRO successfully launched GSLV-F15 carrying the NVS-02, an advanced navigation satellite, dron Sriharikota. It would aid in providing terrestrial, aerial and maritime navigation and precision agriculture, among others.

It was the first launch under ISRO Chairman V Narayanan's leadership after he assumed office on January 16 this year and also the space agency's maiden mission this year.

Narayanan said he was extremely happy to announce that ISRO's first venture in 2025 was a success.

Launch of the 100th Mission:

The satellite was "precisely injected into the required (GTO) orbit. This mission is the 100th launch which is a very significant milestone," he said in his address after the successful launch.

ISRO's Tweet:

"In this mission, the data has come; all vehicle systems are normal," Narayanan added. The 50.9 tall Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket with an indigenous cryogenic upper stage lifted off from the second launch pad at a prefixed time of 6.23 am on Wednesday.

The satellite is the second in the series of the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC). It aimed to provide accurate position, velocity and timing to users in the Indian sub-continent as well as to regions about 1,500 km beyond the Indian land mass.

Earlier on May 29, 2023, the GSLV-F12 mission which successfully carried NVS-01, the first of the second generation navigation satellites.

Among the key applications of the NVs-02 satellite are terrestrial, aerial and maritime navigation, precision agriculture, fleet management, location-based services in mobile devices, orbit determination for satellites, Internet-of-Things (IoT) based applications and emergency and timing services, ISRO said.

NavIC is providing two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). NavIC SPS provides a position accuracy of better than 20 m (2σ) and a timing accuracy of better than 40 ns (2σ) over the primary service Area.

NavIC comprises five second-generation satellites--NVS-01/02/03/04/05 envisaged to augment NavIC base layer constellation with enhanced features for ensuring continuity of services.

The NVS-02 satellite is designed and developed by Bengaluru-based U R Rao Satellite Centre. It weighs about 2,250 kg. It has navigation payload in L1, L5 and S bands and employs a Tri-band antenna.

The heart of the navigation payload is the Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard (RAFS), an atomic clock which acts as a stable frequency reference for the navigation payload, reported PTI.

The ranging payload consists of a CxC transponder used for two-way CDMA ranging to facilitate precise orbit determination, ISRO said.