India will launch its fifth regional navigation satellite on January 20,
a top official of the country's space agency said on Monday.
Once
launched, it will help in disaster management, vehicle-tracking and
fleet management, mapping and geodetic data capture, visual and voice
navigation for drivers and others.
"We are loading fuel in the
rocket for the launch of the fifth regional navigation satellite system
(IRNSS-1E) on January 20 from our spaceport," Indian Space Research
Organisation director M. Annadurai told IANS at the Indian Science
Congress here.
The space agency's spaceport is at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, off the Bay of Bengal coast, about 80km northeast of Chennai.
The
space agency will put the sixth (IRNSS-1F) and seventh satellites
(IRNSS-1G) in the earth's lower orbit in mid-February and by March 31
respectively.
The first four satellites were placed in observational orbit between July 2013 and March 2015.
The
44-metre polar satellite launch vehicle, a workhorse weighing about 320
tonnes at lift-off, will be used to carry the 1.4-tonne fifth
spacecraft into orbit.
"The system's first four satellites are
already in use," Annadurai said after addressing delegates on 'Space
Science, Technology and Applications' at a plenary on the second day of
the five-day annual science fair.
The Indian navigation satellite
system will be similar to the global positioning system of the US,
Glonass of Russia, Galileo of Europe, Beidou of China and Quasi Zenith
satellite system of Japan.
"The system will provide two types of
services – standard positioning services to all users and restricted
services to authorised users," Annadurai added.
The space agency
has set up ground stations for generation and transmission of navigation
parameters, satellite control as well as ranging and monitoring across
the country.
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