ISRO’s efforts to position the NVS-02 satellite in its intended orbit faced a setback after the spacecraft’s thrusters failed to activate, according to the space agency’s statement on Sunday.
As reported by PTI, the NVS-02 satellite, which is vital for India’s indigenous space-based navigation system, was launched on January 29 aboard the GSLV-Mk 2 rocket, marking ISRO’s 100th launch from the Shriharikota spaceport.
“But the orbit raising operations towards positioning the satellite to the designated orbital slot could not be carried out as the valves for admitting the oxidizer to fire the thrusters for orbit raising did not open,” the space agency said in an update to the GSLV-F15 mission on its website.
The satellite is orbiting the Earth in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) which is not suitable for the navigation system.
What did ISRO say?
“The satellite systems are healthy and the satellite is currently in elliptical orbit. Alternate mission strategies for utilising the satellite for navigation in an elliptical orbit are being worked out,” ISRO said.
After the GSLV rocket placed the satellite in the GTO, the solar panels on board the satellite were successfully deployed and power generation was nominal.
Communication with the ground station has been established, the space agency said.
The launch on board the GSLV was successful as all the stages performed flawlessly and the orbit was achieved with a high degree of precision.
What are GSLV-F15 and NVS-02 navigation satellite
The launch vehicle, GSLV-F15, is expected place NVS-02 satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
NVS-02, the second satellite in the NVS series, is configured with Navigation payload in L1, L5 and S bands in addition to ranging payload in C-band like its predecessor-NVS-01.
NVS-02 uses a combination of indigenous and procured Atomic clocks for precise time estimation.
According to ISRO, navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is “India’s independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide accurate Position, Velocity and Timing (PVT) service to users in India as well as to region extending about 1500 km beyond Indian land mass.”
(With input from agencies)