K. Radhakrishnan hails ISRO's for launch of IRNSS-IA satellite

The Chairman of The Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO), K. Radhakrishnan, on Tuesday praised his team of scientists and engineers, saying the satellite, with navigation and ranging payloads would provide accurate positional information to users as well as the whole region extending up to 1,500 kilometres from its boundary.

"The Glonass System is there from Russia, it's almost completed. We have a Galileo System of Europe coming up. We also have a system of China, and Japan is also making an initiative. What we have provided to the country is the beginning of a regional navigational satellite system above the Indian region and we are going up to 1500 kilometres above its boundary," said Radhakrishnan.

Earlier today, India successfully launched its first dedicated navigation satellite, IRNSS-1A, using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

The satellite blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 11.41 p.m. on Monday night.

The 1,425 kilograms PSLV C22, after four stages of ignition and separation, was successfully injected into orbit at exactly one minute past twelve.

This was the first time that ISRO carried out a launch operation in the dead of the night.

The data from the satellite will help the country in a range of fields, including disaster management, vehicle tracking, fleet management and marine navigation.

It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in the country as well as the region extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area.

Dr. K Radhakrishnan expressed happiness over the launch.