ISRO's NVS-02 navigation satellite faces technical glitch

The Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) NVS-02 navigation outer has encountered a method glitch aft being successfully injected into the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

The NVS-02 navigation outer lifted disconnected connected January 29 aboard the GSLV rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre successful Sriharikota. It was the 100th motorboat from Sriharikota; and the 17th motorboat of GSLV.

The motorboat was successful, with the outer successfully injected into the intended orbit.

“All the motorboat conveyance stages performed flawlessly and the orbit was achieved with a precocious grade of precision,” ISRO said, noting that star panels connected committee the outer were deployed and powerfulness procreation started. Communication with the crushed presumption was besides established.

The method glitch occurred during orbit raising operations, ISRO said successful the latest update.

“The orbit raising operations towards positioning the outer to the designated orbital slot could not beryllium carried retired arsenic the valves for admitting the oxidizer to occurrence the thrusters for orbit raising did not open,” the nationalist abstraction bureau said.

The agency, however, noted that the "satellite systems are healthy” and “is presently successful elliptical orbit”.

ISRO informed that the bureau is moving connected an “alternate ngo strategies for utilising the outer for navigation successful an elliptical orbit”.

Radha Krishna Kavuluru, a erstwhile idiosyncratic astatine ISRO explained that satellites are archetypal launched into a GTO, wherever they execute a bid of motor burns (using onboard thrusters) to scope Geostationary orbit (GEO) -- a circular orbit 36,000 km supra Earth's equator.

Even arsenic ISRO is exploring alternate solutions NVS-02's whitethorn endure if it cannot scope GEO. "The satellite's inferior whitethorn beryllium compromised if it cannot scope GEO.

By the mode astatine a perigee of 200 km, NVS-02 stands connected clip for orbital decay owed to orbital perturbations and abstraction ambiance drag,” Kavuluru said successful a station connected societal media level X.

The NVS-02 is portion of the second-generation satellites for the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) strategy -- India's ain navigation system.

The navigation outer strategy is designed to supply close Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) work to users successful India arsenic good arsenic to regions extending astir 1500 km beyond Indian onshore mass.