The IRNSS-1F Satellite during integration
The 54-and-a-half hour countdown, which began at 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday, to the launch of India’s sixth dedicated navigation satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota has been progressing as per schedule.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will put into orbit the 1,425-kg IRNSS-1F regional navigation satellite developed by India on Thursday evening. India’s workhorse satellite launch vehicle PSLV-C32 will carry the payload. As in the previous five launches of IRNSS satellites, PSLV-C32 will use the ‘XL’ version of PSLV, according to ISRO.
The ISRO had put into orbit the IRNSS-1E in January this year. The IRNSS-1F will be launched into a sub-Geosynchronous transfer orbit with a 284-km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and 20,657-km apogee (farthest point to Earth), according to ISRO.
The satellite will carry two types of payloads — navigation payload and ranging payload. The navigation payload will transmit navigation service signals to users while the other consists of a C-band transponder that facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite.
The IRNSS—1F is part of the space segment satellites of the IRNSS system. The space segment consists of seven satellites.