ISRO successfully completes first orbit raising of IRNSS-1D

The fourth navigation satellite was put into orbit by a PSLV on Saturday

After the successful launch of India’s fourth navigational satellite IRNSS-1D last week, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said the first orbit raising operation of the satellite had been completed successfully.

Isro announced, “The first orbit raising operation of IRNSS-1D is successfully completed by firing the apogee motor,” on March 29, 2015.

IRNSS project director M Nageswara Rao said the firing of the apogee motor would be continued to put the satellite into its actual orbit.

With four satellites in place, Isro can now get accurate information on ground objects, he said, adding the next two satellites would further improve accuracy of the services.

So far, four regional navigational satellites had been placed in the orbit as part of a constellation of seven satellites to provide accurate positional information service to users across the country and the region extending up to 1,500 km area. The entire constellation is planned to be completed this year.

An Isro source said the positional information on land, air and sea would now be available and would help several areas, including defence, farming, transport and tourism.

Three satellites launched earlier have all been integrated with the ground stations and are working well. The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013, the second, IRNSS-1B, in April 2014, and the third on October 16, 2014.  Once all the seven satellites become operational, India could replace the United States GPS with the IRNSS.