NaVIC

Contents:

What is NaVIC Satellite?
What is the Full Form of NaVIC?
What is NaVIC?
How many Satellites were launched?
Why is NaVIC required in India?
Which is better NaVIC or GPS?
Pros and Cons of NaVIC?

What is NaVIC Satellite?

During the time of the Kargil War, India was going through a challenging time as Pakistan was purposedly causing lots of trouble to irritate our soldiers. So, the Indian government decided to teach a good lesson to Pakistan and sought help from the United States regarding its navigational technology, GPS (Global Positioning System).

But to India’s surprise, the USA straightforward denied this request favoring Pakistan. That was when India’s space organization, ISRO, decided that it will develop its own navigational system so that it can be used at times of emergency. And this was how the concept of NaVIC was born.

IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System), more popularly known as NaVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), is an India owned navigation system project. The idea of NaVIC first became operational on 1 July 2013 with the launch of IRNSS-1A.

A total of nine satellites were launched under this program. However, two of them failed due to technical errors, resulting in seven satellites orbiting our Earth and providing navigational data directly to ISRO. There is an ongoing plan by ISRO to increase the number of satellites to 11, and the organization is currently working on this project.

What is the Full Form of NaVIC?

NaVIC stands for Navigation with Indian Constellation

What is NaVIC?

NaVIC is a regional navigation system of Indian origin, a local version of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) covering India and an entire range of 1500 Kms around it, including China, Pakistan, and a significant part of the Indian Ocean. It provides real-time positioning and timing for all the areas it is functional in. It’s a constellation of a total of seven satellites which are fully operational in space from 2018 and is being developed since then. It’s an operational name for IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System).

The NaVIC boasts an accuracy of better than 10 meters on the ground and around 20 meters in the Indian Ocean, which is way better than GPS. The reason for this is that GPS uses a single band frequency on its satellites. Due to this, the accuracy of GPS varies a lot according to the change in weather conditions.
So, the experts at GPS signal centers always keep working to provide accurate data by adjusting the measurements keeping in mind the current weather conditions. In contrast, NaVIC uses a dual-band frequency (S & L Bands) for its navigational data, and so doesn’t gets affected by different weather conditions. Hence, the latter is better in terms of accuracy. In addition to this, these satellites revolve in a higher orbit than GPS, i.e., approximately 36,000 km above Earth’s surface.

Also, this navigation system has a data broadcasting feature through which automated signals and warnings could be easily broadcasted to the receivers using the NaVIC program. This is very helpful for Coast Guard personnel and local sailors so that they can be informed of any natural calamities or enemies present at a specific spot in the ocean. This will also help in preparing beforehand for any disaster we are about to encounter.

How many Satellites were launched?

Initially, nine launches were planned and executed, ranging from satellite IRNSS-1A to IRNSS-1I, but IRNSS-1A failed partially due to the atomic clock failure. IRNSS-1H was then launched to replace IRNSS-1A, but its launch failed, and it could not reach the desired orbit. So ISRO launched IRNSS-1I, which replaced IRNSS-1A successfully. Thus, the total adds up to seven satellites in which four are in Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO). The remaining three are in Geostationary Orbit (GEO).

The reason for using Geostationary Orbit is that it takes a lot fewer satellites to provide accurate data from all over the Earth. GPS uses only Geosynchronous Orbit, and it needs 24 satellites in this orbit to offer accurate data. Now, since the Indian system is a regional system, it requires only 4 satellites in the Geosynchronous Orbit.

The unique operational name for IRNSS is derived from the Sanskrit word NaVIC, which means ‘sailor’ or ‘navigator.’ The name was proposed and announced by our PM Mr. Narendra Modi, marking the utility of this navigation system for our sailors and Navy forces.

ISRO is currently set to launch 4 more satellites in orbit, taking the total number to 11. This will profoundly improve the navigation data & accuracy, helping our military to pin-point exact enemy locations to prepare a strategy against them easily.

Why is NaVIC Required in INDIA?

The proposal for a personal navigation system exclusive to India was a long-needed demand. But, when the USA denied the request for GPS access in the Kargil war, it became essential that India should have its own navigational system for times where they would not have to be dependent on anyone else for help.

NaVIC provides a ‘Standard Positioning Service,’ which is for the use of the general public and a ‘restricted service,’ which is only accessible to authorized personnel on special requests. The latter is an encrypted system that has been developed especially for military uses. This will help in calculating the exact locations of the enemy and planning a successful strategy to counter them. If we would have been still dependent on foreign technologies currently, many of the military operations would fail miserably where a need for navigation system is required.

Few Important uses of the NaVIC system include:

Terrestrial, Aerial and, Marine Navigation: The satellites will help determine the exact navigation paths for use in terrestrial, aerial, and marine navigation. This will be mainly helpful to our armed forces, namely, Army, Air-Force & Navy. This will also provide essential assistance to passenger and cargo carrying and ships and planes circulating in and out of India.
Disaster Management: The NaVIC system has a messaging and broadcasting feature embedded on IRNSS-1A, which will significantly help during the time of a natural disaster. During any natural calamity, the weather and space stations would be informed in advance with the help of this system. Since we will have the information beforehand, we can prepare for the upcoming disaster easily before it hits populated areas. A strategy can also be planned by gathering the vital information from the data this technology will provide to us.
Vehicle Tracking & Fleet Management: After it becomes fully operational, it will be mandatory for all the commercial vehicles running on the Indian roads to have a NaVIC tracker on their vehicles. Doing this will decrease the illegal smuggling of prohibited goods in and out of India, as all the commercial vehicles could be tracked easily, and their routes would be defined. The rule also covers commercial vehicles in aviation and marine departments. This also helps in managing traffic at extreme times if a shortage of traffic police is felt.
Integration with Mobile Phones: ISRO has partnered with Qualcomm TM to produce NaVIC integrated processors and chipsets so that they can be integrated with the latest upcoming smartphones. Qualcomm has produced three chipsets, Snapdragon 720G, 662, and 460 with the support of the NaVIC system. It’s an encouraging step that is going to set a milestone in the Indian mobile market as there will be many smartphones now with the NaVIC, India’s own navigational system. These Snapdragon processors are best suited for low to mid-range smartphones, so it will be easily accessible to poor and middle-class people of India. Now we will not have to be dependent on GPS for navigating on the roads. Also, the most important thing is that our private data will not fall into foreign hands anymore.
Precise Timing: The IRNSS consist of three Rubidium Atomic clocks in each one of the satellites which will significantly help to calculate exact timing, accurate to milliseconds. ISRO has high-end setup machines that will do complex calculations to predict the most precise timings using the help of NaVIC and the IRNSS satellites.
Visual & Voice Navigation for Drivers: With the advancement in the navigational system, all the vehicle drivers will have access to visual and voice navigation under this program. This is going to help a lot as drivers will be able to concentrate fully on the roads instead of focus on their navigational devices. Road accidents will be less frequent, and the visual navigation will help in estimating the traffic on the way and plan ahead.
Mapping & Geodetic Data Capture: Since NaVIC is a navigation system, it can be used for pointing out the exact coordinate points on the map and making it more precise with the acquired data. The IRNSS is a regional system, and as it covers very less amount of space as compared to GPS or GLONASS, it is more accurate in terms of data. Due to this, maps of India and its neighboring countries can be updated more precisely using the coordinates data and real-time positioning from NaVIC. This is a massive step towards making the Indian defenses and internal security matters more powerful.

Which is Better NaVIC or GPS?

GPS (Global Positioning System) is a navigation system developed and under the ownership of the USA. At the same time, NaVIC is India’s own navigation system. Let us discuss the main differences between these two and compare that who’s better than the other.
As stated earlier, GPS only uses Geosynchronous Orbit while having 24 satellites in orbit and NaVIC uses both Geosynchronous and Geostationary Orbit with only 7 satellites in orbit. Though the number of satellites is higher in GPS, both provide precisely the same accuracy in terms of data, which makes NaVIC better than GPS in that aspect.
GPS only uses one frequency band, making the calculations a bit hard and complicated for the interpreters while NaVIC uses dual-band frequency (L-5 & S bands), making its data independent of the atmospheric conditions.
NaVIC’s restricted & encrypted service can provide accuracy up to 1-5 meters which GPS is not able to maintain in any circumstances.
GPS is a global navigation system, while NaVIC is a regional navigation system limited to a specific region in and around India.
NaVIC is more precise in highly populated and dense urban areas where geolocation accuracy has a poor performance.
GPS is supported in almost all media devices nowadays, while NaVIC has a limited reach as of now. The government has plans to extend its scope, but it will still take a reasonable amount of time.
GPS is owned and maintained by the US government, and hence we do not have any control over it. Whereas NaVIC is owned and managed by India and can be used in whichever way we want.

Looking at all the above points, we can assume that GPS is somewhat better than NaVIC, but only on a global level. If we come down to a regional or national perspective, NaVIC is far better than GPS as it provides the same accuracy, and we have full control over its data. So, we can agree that NaVIC is better when it comes to regional navigation.

Pros & Cons of NaVIC

NaVIC is by far the best regional navigational system that has enough potential to take down the popularity of GPS by its accuracy and user experience. Scientists from ISRO are trying their best to develop it into a full-fledged navigation system, and they have also prepared the future plans for NaVIC.

Despite these qualities, this program has some of its own drawbacks which will take a considerable amount of time to deal with. Let’s look at some of the pros & cons of the NaVIC system, listing them one by one so that it provides a clear picture of this program.

Pros:

NVIC works on dual-band frequency, providing more accurate data, and its data is not hindered by atmospheric conditions.
NaVIC’s estimated budget is ₹ 22.6 billion, which is a lot less than what the other navigation systems cost. It’s a cost-effective solution to our navigational problems.
NaVIC covers all of India’s neighboring countries, which is a substantial advantage in a war-like situation.
The encrypted service, limited to authorized personnel only, has accuracy in the range of 1-5 meters. This makes NaVIC a powerful tool for our defense systems and internal security measures.
NaVIC can easily replace GPS throughout the country as it is better and has the same accuracy as the GPS.
Extensive usage of NaVIC will result in the safeguarding of our personal navigational data as it will not be influenced by the foreign powers. This can guarantee better privacy protection for ordinary people too.

Cons:

NaVIC is still in its development phase and is yet to be widely released. This makes GPS the best available option right now.
GPS is the most widely used navigation system in most of the hand-held devices and NaVIC will take some time to reach that level.
NaVIC is a regional navigation system and is limited to India and areas surrounding it while GPS is a global system. So, GPS will never be replaced by NaVIC on a worldwide level and once outside the country, you will have to rely on GPS.\
NaVIC has an issue with the Rubidium atomic clocks it is using. A total of five atomic clocks have malfunctioned on IRNSS satellites. Since ISRO is in the process of developing its own atomic clock, it could slow down the progress of NaVIC.

If we look at all these aspects of NaVIC, it still stands out as a viable replacement for GPS. In the coming days, we could see it replacing all the GPS systems around the country. All of this depends on the pace of ISRO’s work to improve and innovate NaVIC. So let us all wait and watch the results of this grand project ISRO has developed and is working on.

People also search for GPS, GOOGLE, NOC, BA, SEBI, etc.

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