Sriharikota: India's own navigation system was down to three working satellites when a GSLV lifted off from here on Friday night, and the satellite it carried was the difference between a constellation and a crisis.
ISRO's GSLV-F18 placed the 2,250-kg NVS-03 into its designated elliptical orbit about 18 minutes and 40 seconds after the 11.51 pm launch. NavIC, the Navigation with Indian Constellation, provides position, navigation and timing services across India and roughly 1,500 km beyond its landmass.
The system had been in trouble since March, when a defunct atomic clock on IRNSS-1F left NavIC paralysed. Only IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1L and NVS-01 were working. At least four satellites with operational atomic clocks are needed for the system to function properly, which is why one launch mattered as much as it did.
NVS-03 carries an indigenous atomic clock alongside procured ones, and adds an L1 signal to the existing L5 and S bands. It is the third satellite in the next-generation series meant to keep navigation services running for the IRNSS fleet.
ISRO chairman V. Narayanan said about 80 per cent of the agency's launch-related budget is channelled into domestic private and public sector companies, an ecosystem he put at 400 to 500 firms, suppliers and startups. The mission also set a benchmark internally: 56 days between successive GSLV flights, the shortest turnaround yet.
Hyderabad-based Ananth Technologies was among the larger private contributors. It supplied 46 packages for the GSLV-F18 vehicle covering telemetry, data acquisition, guidance and control, and nine systems for the satellite itself.
"It is encouraging to see significant contribution of the private industry to India's space missions," said Lt Gen A.K. Bhatt (retd), director general of the Indian Space Association. "This collaboration must expand further, enabling Indian companies to contribute across satellite manufacturing, navigation technologies, components and downstream applications."
Subba Rao Pavuluri, chairman of Ananth Technologies, said the launch showed India's scientific excellence and the collective strength of its space industry. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO on Saturday.
The practical test comes over the next few days, when NVS-03 is moved to its final orbit and its clock is brought into the constellation's timing chain.