Next NavIC Satellite Ready For Launch, Says Govt; No Lift-off Date Announced Yet
News india Next NavIC Satellite Ready For Launch, Says Govt; No Lift-off Date Announced Yet Next NavIC Satellite Ready For Launch, Says Govt; No Lift-off
News india Next NavIC Satellite Ready For Launch, Says Govt; No Lift-off Date Announced Yet Next NavIC Satellite Ready For Launch, Says Govt; No Lift-off Date Announced Yet Reported By, Last Updated: August 05, 2026, 22:35 IST India's next NavIC satellite is ready for launch after NVS-02 failure. Only 3 NavIC satellites are functional, impacting positioning services. The Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system was designed as a constellation of seven satellites and a network of ground stations operating 24X7 to provide accurate real-time positioning and timing services over India and a region extending approximately 1500 kms around the Indian mainland. As India’s indigenous regional navigation satellite system grapples with reduced capability following the failure of NVS-02 last year, the government has told Parliament that its next NavIC satellite is ready for launch. This comes as ISRO’s launch programmes remain on hold since January. The Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system was designed as a constellation of seven satellites and a network of ground stations operating 24X7 to provide accurate real-time positioning and timing services over India and a region extending approximately 1500 kms around the Indian mainland. The system was an upgradation to the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) developed post the 1999 Kargil War.
NVS-01 – the first of the second-generation satellites with indigenously-developed Rubidium atomic clock was successfully launched on GSLV in May, 2023, but the second in series – NVS-02 launched in January, 2025 failed after it could not be injected into the correct orbit. There has been no NVS launch since then. “NVS-03 is ready for launch after incorporation of all corrective measures arising from the NVS-02 anomaly. It will be followed by the launch of NVS-04, and NVS-05. One more satellite is planned thereafter to complete the seven-satellite NavIC base layer constellation," Union Minister of State for Space, Dr Jitendra Singh told Parliament, adding that the same measures will be followed in subsequent satellites including NavIC series of satellites carrying bi-propellant systems. However, the statement did not mention any timeline on when the launch is scheduled to take place. NaVIC: ONLY THREE SATELLITES FUNCTIONAL NaVIC is designed with a constellation of seven satellites and a network of ground stations operating 24X7. While three satellites of the constellation are placed in geostationary orbit, four are placed in an inclined geosynchronous orbit with equatorial crossing. The ground network consists of control centre, precise timing facility, range and integrity monitoring stations and two-way ranging stations. According to experts, a minimum of four operational navigation satellites are required in orbit to provide basic positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) service using longitude, latitude, altitude and time.
The BriefWire