In its thirty fourth flight, ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C32, successfully launched the 1,425 kg IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) this afternoon from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty third consecutively successful mission of PSLV and the twelfth in its 'XL' configuration.
After PSLV-C32 lift-off at 1601 hrs (4:01 pm) IST from the Second Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, heat-shield separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of 19 minutes 34 seconds, IRNSS-1F Satellite was injected to an elliptical orbit of 284 km X 20,719 km inclined at an angle of 17.866 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage. After separation, the solar panels of IRNSS-1F were deployed automatically. ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan, Karnataka took over the control of the satellite.
In the coming days, four orbit manoeuvres will be conducted from MCF to position the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit at 32.5 deg East longitude.
IRNSS-1F is the sixth of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID and IE, the first five satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013, April 04, 2014, October 16, 2014, March 28, 2015 and January 20, 2016 respectively. All the five satellites are functioning satisfactorily from their designated orbital positions.
IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1,500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users – and Restricted Services (RS), provided to authorised users.
A number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in eighteen locations across the country.
IRNSS-1G, the remaining satellite of this constellation, is scheduled to be launched by PSLV in April 2016, thereby completing the IRNSS constellation.
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