India successfully launches satellite to boost indigenous GPS alternative
India’s space agency successfully launched a navigation satellite on Friday night to strengthen the country’s indigenous alternative to GPS.
The NVS-03 satellite, the third in Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) next-generation navigation series, was carried into orbit by the “GSLV-F18” rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, located on an island in the Bay of Bengal.
According to ISRO the “the GSLV-F18 vehicle placed NVS-03 satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.” An earlier statement by the agency said the satellite is “intended to augment the NavIC constellation and support continuity of navigation services.”
It is designed to provide navigation coverage across India and up to 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) beyond its borders. NavIC is seen as an alternative to the Global Positioning System (GPS) system owned by the United States government and developed to reduce India’s dependence on foreign navigation systems.
