ISRO schedules GSLV-F18 launch carrying NVS-03

The Indian Space Research Organisation is scheduled to launch the GSLV-F18 rocket carrying the NVS-03 navigation satellite at 11:51 p.m. IST on October 30, from Sriharikota, as part of an effort to strengthen the NavIC regional navigation system. ISRO’s schedule places the launch at the space centre’s Second Launch Pad. The mission is expected to put NVS-03 into geosynchronous transfer orbit. From there, the satellite would need further manoeuvres to reach its operational orbit; the scheduled launch alone would not confirm that it has entered service. NVS-03 is the third satellite in the second-generation NavIC series. ISRO says it is intended to augment the constellation and maintain continuity of navigation services. The satellite carries an indigenous atomic clock along with procured clocks, and adds the L1 navigation signal to the existing L5 and S-band signals. The planned service area is India and a region extending about 1,500 kilometres beyond the country’s landmass. The launch is also the 20th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, according to ISRO. Its mission specifications describe a planned transfer orbit with a perigee of 170 kilometres and...