NavIC SYSTEM - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
News: Focus
on commercial use of NavIC, ISRO’s future satellites to get additional
frequency
What's in the news?
● With
an aim to promote civilian use of
NAVigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC), the regional navigation
satellite system developed by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the
space agency is introducing the L1
frequency in all its future satellites.
Key takeaways:
● The
L1 frequency, which is one of the most
commonly used frequencies in the Global Positioning System (GPS), will
increase the use of the regional navigation system in wearable devices and
personal trackers that use low power, single frequency chips. At present, the
satellites operate on two frequencies - L5 and S band.
● The
NVS-01 satellite, according to
previous annual reports of the Department of Space, is set to replace one of
ISRO’s seven navigational satellites currently in space.
NavIC system:
● NavIC,
or Navigation with Indian Constellation, is an independent stand-alone
navigation satellite system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
● NavIC consists of eight
satellites and covers the whole of India’s landmass and up to 1,500 km (930
miles) from its boundaries.
● NavIC
was originally approved in 2006 at a cost of $174 million. It became
operational in 2018.
Main features of NavIC system:
● It
covers the whole India and region surrounding it up to 1500 km.
● It
provides accuracy up to 20m as claimed
by ISRO.
● Its
apogee (farthest point) is 20,657km and Perigee is 284 km
● The
satellite weighs on average 1330 kg approx. and each has solar panels to
generate 1400 wt.
● A
master control facility is set up on land to receive signals from these satellites.
Current usage of NavIC:
● It
is being used in public vehicle tracking
in India.
● For
providing emergency warning alerts to
fishermen venturing into the deep sea where there is no terrestrial network
connectivity.
● For
tracking and providing information related to natural disasters.
Difference between GPS and NavIC:
● The
main difference is the serviceable area
covered by these systems.
● GPS
caters to users across the globe and its satellites circle the earth twice a
day while NavIC is currently for use in India and adjacent areas.
Similar systems across the world:
Draft Satellite Navigation Policy 2021:
● India’s
2021 satellite navigation draft policy stated the government will work towards
“expanding the coverage from regional to
global” to ensure availability of NavIC signals in any part of the world.
Why is it necessary?
● The
main aim is removing dependence on
foreign satellite systems for navigation service requirements, particularly
for “strategic sectors.”
● NavIC
is an indigenous positioning system that is under Indian control. There is no
risk of the service being withdrawn or denied in a given situation,” the
government said in 2021.
● Relying
on systems like GPS and GLONASS may not always be reliable, India says, as
those are operated by the defence agencies of respective nations and it is
possible that civilian services can be degraded or denied.
● India
also wants to encourage its ministries
to use NavIC applications to promote local industry engaged in developing
indigenous NavIC-based solutions.
Significance of NavIC:
1. Disaster management:
● It
will help in sending early warning
to people of the country particularly coastal areas about cyclones, tsunamis,
heavy storms etc. and would help in monitoring & rescue operations during
disaster times.
● It
will help to mitigate the disaster
effects by providing information of disaster timing, safe location and also
help the disaster relief management
to make earlier plans and save the lives of people in India as well as up to
1500 km around it.
2. Security:
● It
would help in enhancing India’s security by better monitoring of any terrorist activity in border areas,
surveillance of strategic infrastructure etc.
3. Information about fishing areas:
● It
will help the mariners for far navigation and fishermen to get information
about the valuable fisheries location and any disturbance in sea.
4. Tourism:
● Short
& long-distance travelers and mountain hikers can use a navigation
satellite system which would be more accurate.
5. Provide real time information:
● It
gives real time information for two
services i.e standard positioning service open for civilian use and Restricted
service which may be encrypted for authorized users like for military.
● Currently
we use the GPS system of the USA for navigation.
6. Integrating regional navigation system:
● It
will help to make friendly relations with other countries by providing real
time information during any calamity or disaster to mitigate its after effect
and for making early plans.
● Further
with extensive coverage, one of the stated future uses of the project includes
sharing of the project with the SAARC nations.
7. Joining the elite group:
● India
became one of the 5 countries having
their own navigation system like GPS of USA, GLONASS of Russia, Galileo of
Europe and BeiDu of China.
● So
India's dependence on other countries for navigation purposes reduces.
8. Town planning:
● It
will help in better planning and urban
development with the use of geographical data.
9. Forest department:
● It
will help in tracking endangered animals, better prevention of forest fires etc.
Applications of NavIC:
● Terrestrial,
Aerial and Marine Navigation
● Disaster
Management
● Vehicle
tracking and fleet management
● Integration
with mobile phones
● Precise
Timing
● Mapping
and Geodetic data capture
● Terrestrial
navigation aid for hikers and travelers
● Visual
and voice navigation for drivers.