ISRO geared up for launch of its Sixth Satellite

The Indian Space Research Organization is geared up towards launching its Sixth Navigation Satellite today.

Flash points

• The sixth navigation satellite IRNSS-1F will be launched by the PSLV C-32 at 4 pm today
• The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C32, on its 34th mission, would launch the IRNSS-1F from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota
• The 54-and-half hour countdown began on Wednesday after the Mission Readiness Review Committee and Launch Authorisation Board gave their clearance
• The satellite is aimed at providing navigation services on par with the US-based Global Positioning System
• The space agency had launched five navigation satellites before, under the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)
• The four satellites launched previously provide navigation for 18 hours whereas after the fifth launch it was increased to 24 hours with accuracy of 20 metres
• The sixth and seventh launch will further increase the efficiency
• The seventh satellite is planned to be launched at the month end
• For IRNSS-1F Satellite, Scientists have used XL variant which provides capacity to carry load
• This XL technology was previously used in Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission and ASTROSAT apart from the five IRNSS satellites

Points to note

The five satellites already launched under IRNSS are

1. IRNSS-1A on July 1, 2013
2. IRNSS-1B on April 4, 2014
3. IRNSS-1C on October 16, 2014
4. IRNSS-1D on March 28, 2015
5. IRNSS-1E on January 20, 2016