On January 29, 2025, at 06:23, ISRO successfully launched the GSLV F15 rocket, carrying the NVS-02 navigation satellite, from the second launch pad in its historic 100th launch. Numerous missions have been conducted from Sriharikota over the course of 99 launches.
GSLV-F15 was the 11th flight with an indigenous cryogenic stage and the 17th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). It is the 100th launch from India’s Spaceport Sriharikota and the eighth flight of the GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic engine.The metallic GSLV-F15 payload fairing has a diameter of 3.4 meters.
The NVS-02 satellite was launched into a precise geosynchronous transfer orbit by the GSLV-F15 equipped with an in-house cryogenic stage.
India’s autonomous regional navigation satellite system, Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC), was created to give users in India and the region that extends roughly 1500 km outside of the Indian landmass—its primary service area—accurate Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) services.
Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS) are the two service types offered by NavIC. Over the primary service area, NavIC SPS offers position accuracy of better than 20 m (2σ) and timing accuracy of better than 40 ns (2σ).
In order to ensure service continuity, five second-generation NavIC satellites—NVS-01/02/03/04/05—are planned to add improved features to the NavIC base layer constellation. To expand the services, the NVS satellite series also uses L1 band signals.
On May 29, 2023, NVS-01, the first of the second-generation satellites, was launched aboard GSLV-F12. In NVS-01, an indigenous atomic clock was flown for the first time.
Like its predecessor, NVS-01, NVS-02, the second satellite in the NVS series, is set up with a ranging payload in the C-band and a navigation payload in the L1, L5, and S bands. It has a lift-off mass of 2250 kg and a power handling capacity of about 3 kW when configured on the standard I-2K bus platform. It will take the place of IRNSS-1E at 111.75ºE. For accurate time estimation, NVS-02 combines in-house and purchased atomic clocks.
