Context
The Government informed Parliament that NavIC can no longer independently provide standalone positioning services because only three satellites are currently providing Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services, whereas at least four operational satellites are required.
Explanation
- NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is India’s regional satellite navigation system, developed by ISRO under the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
- It was designed as a 7-satellite constellation to provide Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services over India and up to 1,500 km beyond its borders.
- A minimum of four operational satellites is required for standalone positioning; currently, only three satellites are operational for PNT.
- NavIC receivers can still use GPS (USA), Galileo (EU), GLONASS (Russia), and BeiDou (China) in a multi-constellation GNSS environment.
- NVS-series satellites are the second-generation NavIC satellites with improved atomic clocks and enhanced navigation capabilities.
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