The 1,425 kg IRNSS-1A, the first satellite of the seven in Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), has a mission life of 10 years and would provide accurate real-time position and timing information to users in the country as well as the region extending up to 1,500 km around it. Eminent scientist Dr YS Rajan joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the significance of this launch as India joins an elite group of countries that can rely on its own nav-sat for civil and defence applications.
Q. I understand that this is the heaviest Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launch? Will this be the maximum payload or it could further increase in later launches? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. PSLV has continuous improvements for different launches depending on payloads. It should not be measured only by the weight of the payload. Originally the focus was on polar launches as the P in PSLV indicates but it has been adapted for various other launches including geosynchronous satellites, Chandrayaan mission etc. PSLV variant will launch the mars mission as well.
Q. From this navigation satellite, who all, are the potential users of the information received? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Any group or persons interested in position locations is a potential users. Anybody who is mobile, such as transport services can use it. Also for various surveys to fix geographical co-ordinates. Thus, there are many uses from tourism to security etc.
Q. Do the users of information from these satellite make any payment? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. I'm not aware of it but there could be in future, group charges for bulk users. It may be given as public good also.
Q. If I leave a cell in my car and from 100 km distance want to reach my car, will it be possible to get navigated by this new IRNSS? Asked by: sudeep singh
A. Yes, however it will depend upon the equipment used in those cars.
Q. What is the cost involved in this? How much will the launch cost? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. I don't recall it, kindly refer to the ISRO press releases about the cost of launch and cost of satellites.
Q. The ANTRIX part of ISRO had been offering launch services. Have our terms and conditions been competitive enough to attract smaller nations to us? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. ANTRIX has contracts with developed as well as developing nations for satellite launches. They are quite competitive. One need not look at smaller or bigger nations as space products have to be of extremely good quality and reliability.
Q. How crowded is the sky up above. Is there a traffic jam happening with crowding of satellites from different countries? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Still there is plenty of place in space to launch satellites. There is space depending upon the orbits chosen. However, there are some worries now regarding space debris. It may be recalled that some of the recent flights of ISRO were postponed by few minutes to avoid some possible debris on the way.
Q. At the global level is there any private agency offering satellite launching facilities? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. There are number of them in USA, some jointly with Russia and Europe. However, space launches have to still draw lot of knowledge from government funded institutions.
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