Singapore City [Singapore], October 30 (ANI): Former Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Ravi Gupta on Friday said the launch of the GSLV-F18/NVS-03 mission would mark a significant milestone for India’s indigenous Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system, which is expected to become fully operational following the placement of the satellite in orbit.
Speaking ahead of the launch scheduled for tonight, Gupta, speaking to ANI, said the NavIC system, which faced interruptions due to technical reasons, would regain operational capability with the addition of the fourth satellite.
“Today is going to be a very momentous day for our country because our NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) system, which got obstructed because of some technical reasons for some time, is now going to become operational again. Navigation is an important part of any peacetime activity as well as war activity,” he said.
Highlighting the strategic importance of an indigenous navigation system, Gupta said accurate navigation plays a crucial role in military operations, as missiles, aircraft, submarines and naval vessels depend on reliable navigation systems.
“During a war, the importance of accurate navigation becomes extremely important because all our missiles, aircraft, submarines, and ships depend on the navigation system. This will be the fourth satellite. Once it’s in place in orbit, our own navigation system will become completely operational,” he said.
He further pointed out that dependence on foreign navigation systems such as GPS and GLONASS could pose challenges during critical situations, particularly if access to these services is restricted.
“So far, we are dependent on GPS, GLONASS, or any other commercially available systems, which we’ve observed that sometimes, when we are in a critical moment, access to these systems was denied – denied directly or by excuse of some glitch,” Gupta said.
Emphasising the importance of technological self-reliance, the former DRDO scientist said India must maintain control over the supply chain and design of critical components used in its navigation infrastructure.
“The important aspect of this kind of system is that the components which are going into this system, we should have complete control over the supply chain; of course, the design has to be ours. And then, if we’re including any system, we should have the capability to examine them and inspect them, so that we can completely depend on them and rely on them,” he said.
Gupta also appreciated the work undertaken by DRDO and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in developing indigenous capabilities, expressing confidence in the reliability of the system.
“I’m glad to tell you that our country’s DRDO and ISRO have done a considerable amount of work in this area. We are completely self-reliant in this area. And this system is going to be a robust and very reliable system,” he added.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has scheduled the launch of its NVS-03 satellite on Friday at 11:51 PM, which will place a third such indigenous atomic clock in space to strengthen India’s time sovereignty and strengthen satellite navigation systems with the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), now known as NaviC.
The NVS-03 satellite will be carried by the GSLV-F18 launch vehicle, the 20th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The launch is scheduled to take place from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota.
NVS-03 is the third satellite in the next-generation navigation satellite system envisaged for providing continuity of navigation services for the IRNSS series. The earlier satellites were NVS-02 and NVS-01, which carried the other two indigenous atomic clocks. (ANI)
Related reading
