FINAL SATELLITE OF IRNSS 1G

The seventh and final satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, the IRNSS-1G, was launched into a subgeosynchronous transfer orbit with a perigree (nearest point to earth) of 284 km and an apogee (farthest point to earth) of 20,657 km. The satellite was launched on board the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV), which took off from the Sriharikota launch pad on April 28.

ISRO said that with this launch, the IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is now complete. This will allow ISRO to focus on the process of designing frontend chips which will receive the navigational signals sent out by the satellites. The system will be similar to the global positioning system (GPS) operated by the United States with 24 satellites and the GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou systems of Russia, Europe and China respectively.

An area of 1,500 km from Indian boundaries will be covered under the navigational system. The Prime Minis-