India successfully launches key navigation satellite

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – India on Monday successfully launched a navigation satellite into orbit, the country's space agency announced.

According to the Indian Space Research Organization, the launch of the GSLV-F12/NVS-01 mission took place at 10.42 a.m. local time (0512GMT) from southern India.

"GSLV-F12/ NVS-O1 Mission is accomplished. After a flight of about 19 minutes, the NVS-O1 satellite was injected precisely into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit," the agency said in a statement after the launch. "Subsequent orbit-raising manoeuvres will take NVS-01 into the intended geosynchronous orbit."

Earlier, the agency said the launch vehicle was designed to deploy the NVS-01 navigation satellite, weighing about 2,232 kilograms (4,920 pounds).

"NVS-01 is the first of the second-generation satellites envisaged for the navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) services. NVS series of satellites will sustain and augment the NavIC with enhanced features," the Indian space agency said in a statement last week. It added that for the first time an "indigenous atomic clock will be flown in NVS-01."

NavIC is an Indian regional satellite navigation system, and its coverage area includes India and a region up to 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) beyond the Indian boundary.