India to launch navigation satellite Oct 16

India's third navigation satellite will be launched Oct 16 from Sriharikota spaceport in coastal Andhra Pradesh, space agency ISRO announced Thursday.

"The 1,425kg navigation satellite (IRNSS-1C) will be launched Oct 16 at 1.32 a.m. onboard a polar rocket (PSLV-C26) from Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota," said an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) statement. Sriharikota is about 100 km northeast of Chennai.

The satellite, which was scheduled for launch Oct 10 but the launch put off by a week due to a glitch in the telemetry system, is part of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) that will have a constellation of seven satellites to provide accurate positioning service for terrestrial, aerial and maritime navigation in 1,500 km area in the Indian peninsula.

"The satellite has been integrated with the rocket and final checks are in progress. The 67-hour countdown for the launch will begin Oct 13 at 6.32 a.m.," said the ISRO statement.

The second navigation satellite (IRNSS-1B) was launched April 4 this year from the spaceport.

The Indian system will be similar to the US Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Glonass and Europe's Galileo constellation of navigation satellites.