India successfully launched its Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) 1C on board ISRO’s PSLV C26 rocket from the spaceport on 16 October 2014.The orbital parameters are: Perigee Altitude: 320.5 km, Apogee Altitude: 35732.4 km. According to ISRO it is designed to provide accurate position information system to users in India as well as region extending up to 15000 kms from its boundary
ISRO is planning to launch seven satellites in its efforts to develop country’s own navigation system which would be at par with US Global Positioning System (GPS). The previous two launches-IRNSS 1A and IRNSS-1B had taken place in July 2013 and April 2014.India is cruising in its dream to become the member of the elite few countries which have their own navigation systems, they being Russia’s Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS), European Union’s Galileo (GNSS), China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system and the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System.
For the launch XL version of PSLV was used .The life of this satellite is supposed to be ten years and the aim is to have a fully developed IRNSS system which can provide both Standard Positioning Service and Restricted Service which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorized users.. IRNSS’s applications include terrestrial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, navigation aide for hikers and travelers, visual and voice navigation for drivers.