ISRO to launch IRNSS-1D satellite from Sriharikota

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch India's latest navigation satellite, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)-1D from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on Saturday. The 1,425 kg satellite will be placed in the orbit by ISRO's workhorse launching vehicle PSLV C-27. The 59.5 hours countdown for the launch began yesterday and is progressing smoothly.

ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar had earlier said that the launch of the satellite would help a person on the ground locate his geographical position in the Indian region. "Once four satellites are up in space, using a receiver on ground you can independently locate yourself, you can determine your position in terms of latitude longitude and height. So this will give us independent geographic positioning system in the country," he had said.

The launch was originally scheduled for March 9 but was later deferred due to an anomaly found in the telemetry transmitter.

According to reports, IRNSS-1D is fourth in the series of seven satellites, planned by ISRO to put in place the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. The first three satellites in the IRNSS series were launched from Sriharikota on July 1, 2013, April 4, 2014 and October 16, 2014 respectively.