#^India Should Follow Multi-Pronged Approach To Beef Up The NavIC System Or NavIC System Or Be An Also-RanWith India’s strategic satellite navigation constellation NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) nearly defunct, India should take a multi-pronged approach to resuscitate the system given the security concerns owing to the geopolitical situation.
The question now is whether India wants to continue in the exclusive club of countries having their own satellite navigation system or be also-run in the segment.
The suggested approaches for India to have a vibrant working NavIC are:
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) should roll out more NavIC satellites or outsource the same;
- Increase the production of rockets to launch the two ton NavIC satellites or
- Look at overseas launchers to beef up the constellation.
The NavIC system should have more than the minimum number of satellites in orbit and also have back ups on ground and go in for NavIC system in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Out of the 11 navigation satellites launched by India till date, currently just three satellites can provide position, navigation and timing (PNT) signals but not continuously.
Furthermore, the continued working of the two out of the three -IRNSS-1B launched in 2014, and IRNSS-1I, launched in 2018- are in suspense given the unreliable atomic clocks and that the spacecraft’s 10- year mission life ended for one and for the other its fast approaching.
On March 13, 2026, ISRO said the IRNSS-1F satellite had completed its design mission life of 10 years on March 10, 2026.
IRNSS stands for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, the original name of the constellation later rebranded as NavIC.
According to ISRO, the onboard atomic clock of IRNSS-1F stopped functioning on 13th March 2026. The agency stated that although the clock has failed, the satellite will continue to operate in orbit to support certain societal applications, particularly one-way broadcast messaging services.
NavIC is designed to provide precise PNT services across India and a region extending roughly 1,500 km beyond the country’s landmass.
ISRO says NavIC offers two categories of services:
- Standard Positioning Service (SPS) for civilian users and
- Restricted Service (RS) intended mainly for strategic and defence applications.
Currently only three Indian NavIC satellites IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1I, and NVS-01 out of the 11 satellites are providing PNT services.
Five satellites are being used for messaging services, one has been completely lost, the mission life of IRNSS-1F has ended, and ISRO is still exploring ways to utilize the NVS-02 satellite, which became stuck in a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).
As per the initial design, the NavIC constellation consist of seven satellites – four in geostationary orbit and three in geosynchronous orbit.
ISRO had said that even with four NavIC satellites, full PNT signals can be obtained.
Interestingly, the Indian government planned to expand the constellation to 11 satellites to extend the coverage area.
Industry experts told
Orbital Today that for NavIC to deliver its full capabilities, India must maintain a constellation of more than seven satellites at all times-factoring sudden in-orbit failures.
They also stressed that satellites should be launched at shorter intervals rather than several years apart as was done earlier.
In 2025, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, informed Parliament that a full constellation of seven satellites is expected in the coming years. However, no clear timeline has been announced.
The first satellite, IRNSS-1A, was launched in 2013, while the last in the original series, IRNSS-1I, was placed in orbit in 2018. During this period, six satellites experienced failures, yet replacement launches did not keep pace.
Many of the IRNSS satellites suffered failures in their atomic clocks, which are critical for accurate navigation signals. Following these issues, ISRO adopted a strategy of operating two clocks simultaneously while keeping a third as backup.
The next-generation navigation satellite NVS-01, intended to replace IRNSS-1G, was finally launched in 2023 and is currently operational.
ISRO had earlier stated that five second-generation satellites—NVS-01, NVS-02, NVS-03, NVS-04, and NVS-05—would strengthen NavIC’s base constellation with improved features and ensure continuity of services.
However, the launch of NVS-02 in 2025, intended as a replacement for IRNSS-1E, encountered problems and is now stuck in geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).
ISRO later explained that the disengagement of at least one contact in both the main and redundant connector paths prevented signals from reaching the valves required to release oxidizer, which in turn stopped the thrusters from performing the necessary orbit-raising manoeuvres.
Some experts were also of the view that India could also look at maintaining the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) NavIC system though the number of satellites needed for the same will be larger than the present constellation.
It is said that people in the strategic field will be using multi-mode receivers to get signals from different satellite navigation systems, which is somewhat comforting for now.
However, about 10,500 Indian trains had NavIC signal receivers for PNT and the efficacy of their current status is now not known.
As of now there are four global satellite navigation systems – GPS of the USA with 31 satellites, Europe’s Galileo (26 satellites), China’s Beidou (35 satellites) and Russia’s GLONASS (24 satellites).
Apart from India’s NavIC, Japan is one other country having a regional satellite navigation system. It’s called Quasi Zenith Satellite System/QZSS or Michibiki and has four satellites.
If India should continue to be in the exclusive club of countries having its own satellite navigation system, then it should take quick measures or face the risk of being an also-ran, is the general view of the people in the know.
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India Should Follow Multi-Pronged Approach To Beef Up The NavIC System Or NavIC System Or Be An Also-Ran appeared first on
Orbital Today.
