NavIC

About NavIC:

• NavIC (NAVigation with Indian Constellation) or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system, that provides accurate real-time positioning and timing services.

Features:

• It consists of three Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites and four geosynchronous orbit (GCO) satellites.
• Orbit altitude: 36,000 km
• It will provide two types of services:
  • Standard Positioning Services (SPS), which will be provided to all users.
  • Restricted Services – (RS), which will grant access only to authorised users (primarily military).

Accuracy:

• IRNSS will have the precision of 10-20 meters for civilian use. It is expected that Military will have more precision.
• GPS has 5 meters coverage for civilian use.

Range:

• It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km around it.

Need for IRNSS:

• During the Kargil war, US government denied vital GPS data for the region to India, necessitating the development of autonomous navigation system for strategic use.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements regarding NavIC/ IRNSS:

1.It uses Geostationary and Geosynchronous satellites only.

2.It will be used exclusively for civilian uses.

Choose the correct statements from the codes given below:

(a)1 only

(b)2 only

(c)Both 1 and 2

(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer