The Indian space agency plans to launch its fourth regional navigation satellite by March-end after replacing a faulty transmitter, a senior official said on Tuesday.
“We are planning to launch the satellite by the end of March. The replacement transmitter is getting ready and will be brought from our centre in Bangalore,” MYS Prasad, director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), said.
He said the faulty transmitter in the satellite will be replaced at SDSC.
The full system comprises nine satellites – seven in orbit and two on the ground as stand-by – the navigation services could be made operational with four satellites, ISRO officials had said.
Each satellite costs around Rs 150 crore and the PSLV-XL version rocket would cost around Rs.130 crore. The seven rockets would involve an outlay of around Rs 910 crore.
The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015.
The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013, the second IRNSS-1B in April 2014 and the third on October 16, 2014.
Once the regional navigation system is in place, India need not be dependent on other platforms.
