by Suman Gupta
NavIC will put India on the global chart alongside the USA, Europe, Russia and China in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) vertical
New Delhi: Broadband India Forum (BIF), a think tank for Digital Transformation, lauded the acceptance by the Global standards body 3GPP, of the interface specifications of NavIC, an autonomous regional satellite navigation system developed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This acceptance will boost the mobile telecom industry by utilising advanced regional navigational services from NavIC that has already made India one amongst a handful of countries/regions such as the USA, Europe, Russia and China to possess and operate a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of NavIC (acronym for NAVigation with Indian Constellation; also, nāvik ‘sailor’ or ‘navigator’), is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system that uses a constellation of eight satellites developed by ISRO. It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km (930 mi) around it, with plans for further extension. The constellations of IRNSS are in orbit as of 2018, and the NavIC system is presently operational.
Some applications of IRNSS are as follows:
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Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation
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Disaster Management
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Vehicle tracking and fleet management
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Integration with mobile phones
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Precise Timing
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Mapping and Geodetic data capture
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Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers
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Visual and voice navigation for drivers