NEW DELHI: The government is working to have the country’s Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System or NaVIC up and running again as it plans to launch four satellites in the near future.“NVS-03 is ready for launch after incorporation of all corrective measures arising from the NVS-02 anomaly. It will be followed by the launch of NVS-04 and NVS-05. One more satellite is planned thereafter to complete the seven-satellite NavIC base layer constellation,” space minister Jitendra Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.He, however, did not mention the timeline for these launches.Noting the failure of replacement satellite NVS-02 in 2025, Jitendra Singh said, “Necessary corrective measures have been incorporated and successfully implemented and tested in CMS-03 satellite. The same will be followed in subsequent satellites, including the NavIC series of satellites carrying bi-propellant systems.”Currently, only IRNSS 1-B, IRNSS 1-L and NVS-01 are capable of providing navigation services. But for the NaVIC system to be operational effectively, at least four satellites with operational atomic clocks are required. So, NavIC is no longer providing standalone positioning services.
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In March this year, the last atomic clock on board Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System-1F (IRNSS-1F) stopped functioning, paralysing NavIC.The first-generation satellites for NavIC were launched between 2013 and 2018. However, the constellation of satellites soon began to face issues, with the atomic clocks on board several IRNSS series satellites repeatedly malfunctioning.The NVS series represents the second-generation satellites for NavIC. While Isro successfully placed NVS-01 in the desired orbit in 2023, the 2025 launch of NVS-02 failed. This has delayed the launch of NVS-03, NVS-04 and NVS-05.
