ISRO Places NVS-03 in Transfer Orbit for NavIC

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) placed its NVS-03 navigation satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit on October 30, advancing the next-generation NavIC programme. The satellite was carried aboard the GSLV-F18 rocket, which lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. ISRO confirmed that NVS-03 reached its intended transfer orbit; the milestone does not establish that it has reached its final orbit or begun operational service. NVS-03 is the third spacecraft in ISRO’s next-generation NavIC series, designed to support continuity of navigation services under the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. The GSLV-F18 mission was the 20th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. ISRO says the satellite carries an indigenous atomic clock alongside procured clocks. It also adds the L1 navigation signal to NavIC’s existing L5 and S-band signals. The agency says the system’s primary service area covers India and a surrounding region extending about 1,500 kilometres beyond the country’s landmass or geopolitical boundary. The satellite must now perform orbit-raising manoeuvres to move from transfer orbit to its...