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ISRO's 100th mission hits a thruster snag, desired orbit not achieved
NVS-02, or Navigation Satellite-02, is part of the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hit a snag in its attempts to place the NVS-02 satellite in the desired orbit, with the space agency revealing on Sunday that the thrusters on board the spacecraft failed to fire.
The NVS-02 satellite was launched as a part of ISRO’s 100th mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota last Wednesday. It was crucial for India's own space-based navigation system, easing the country's reliance on the widely used Global Positioning System (GPS).
The launch happened on board the GSLV-Mk 2 rocket.
"But the orbit raising operations towards positioning the satellite to the designated orbital slot could not be carried out as the valves for admitting the oxidizer to fire the thrusters for orbit raising did not open," the space agency said in an update to the GSLV-F15 mission on its website.
The satellite is orbiting the Earth in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) which is not suitable for the navigation system.
"The satellite systems are healthy and the satellite is currently in elliptical orbit. Alternate mission strategies for utilising the satellite for navigation in an elliptical orbit are being worked out," ISRO said.
After the GSLV rocket placed the satellite in the GTO, the solar panels on board the satellite were successfully deployed and power generation was nominal.
According to the Indian Space Agency, communication with the ground station has been established.
The launch on board the GSLV was successful as all the stages performed flawlessly and the orbit was achieved with a high degree of precision.
What is the NVS-02 satellite?
NVS-02, or Navigation Satellite-02, is part of the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC). The constellation is India's independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide accurate Position, Velocity and Timing (PVT) service to users in India as well as to regions extending about 1500 km beyond Indian land mass.
NavIC will provide two types of services: Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). NavIC's SPS provides a position accuracy of better than 20 meters and a timing accuracy of better than 40 nanoseconds over the service area.
The NVS-02 was the fifth of the constellation, with the first launch happening back in 2013. The NVS-01 was launched on May 29, 2023.
