Isro conducts final orbit raising for IRNSS-1B

Isro planned to conduct five orbit manoeuvres from MCF to position satellite in its Geosynchronous Circular Orbit at 55 deg East longitude

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) today conducted the fifth and final orbit raising operation of IRNSS-1B successfully. In total Isro planned for five orbit raising operations.

Isro said that fifth orbit raising operation of IRNSS-1B is successfully completed by firing Apogee Motor for 134.4 seconds in morning. The expected orbital parameters are: Perigee (the nearest point to earth) Altitude: 35328 km, Apogee (the farthest point to earth) Altitude: 35931 km, Inclination: 30.9 degree

In total Isro planned to conduct five orbit manoeuvres from the Master Control Facility to position the satellite in its Geosynchronous Circular Orbit at 55 deg East longitude.

On April 4th, Isro successfully launched IRNSS-1B, carried by PSLV C24, from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the 25th consecutively successful mission of PSLV. The 'XL' configuration of PSLV was used for this mission, which was used five times to launch Chandrayaan-1, GSAT-12, RISAT-1, IRNSS-1A and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft.

IRNSS-1B is the second of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A, the first satellite of the constellation, was successfully launched by PSLV on July 2, 2013. IRNSS-1A is functioning satisfactorily from its designated geosynchronous orbital position.

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 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 only to authorised users.

Two more satellites of this constellation, namely, IRNSS-1C and IRNSS-1D, are planned to be launched in the second half of 2014. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015-16.