ISRO’s latest navigation satellite NVS-03 is fully healthy, says Chairman V. Narayanan

ISRO’s next-generation navigation satellite NVS-03, launched on October 30 to strengthen India’s NavIC regional satellite navigation system, is “fully healthy”, ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said on Thursday (November 5, 2026).

Speaking at the inauguration of the statue of legendary astronaut Yuri Gagarin at the Periyar Science and Technology Centre, Mr. Narayanan said, “NVS-03, successfully launched on October 30 midnight, was perfectly placed in the elliptical orbit. From there, we operated the engine of the satellite for 6,400 seconds to the circular orbit. Right now, the satellite is fully healthy. We have to do a lot of in-orbit testing for the satellite payload and others.”

‘Saved lives on Axiom-4’

Mr. Narayanan recounted ISRO’s role in ensuring the success of the Axiom-4 mission this summer, which was piloted by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian in space in the last 40 years. Indian scientists had saved the lives of all the astronauts aboard by insisting on scrubbing the initially scheduled launch due to a liquid oxygen leak.

“One day ahead of the scheduled launch on June 11, the countdown had started, and there was a news item about a minor leak. We went ahead with a discussion. I was not satisfied. We insisted on correcting it. Later, we found it was a line crack, not a minor leak,” the ISRO chief explained. “We proved to the world that Indians are second to none, the Indian education system is second to none, Indian training is second to none, to ensure the safety of Gaganyatris [astronauts], including Shubhanshu Shukla,” he added.

The ISRO chief stressed the need to strengthen space technology for better services for citizens. “The work on the fourth launch complex in Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu is under way,” he said.

Russian support

The ISRO chief recalled Russia’s historic role in boosting India’s space programme. “Then-USSR, and the present Russia has supported us in the space programme a great deal. Using the term MTCR [or Missile Technology Control Regime], nobody was willing to help us. At that point in time, the then-USSR came forward, they were ready to give hardware. USSR was the first country that helped our country send Rakesh Sharma to space and return safely,” said Mr. Narayanan, who spent ten months in Russia in 1993 learning cryogenic technology.

“Today also, we are getting a lot of support. For the Gaganyaan programme also, they are supporting us. We are collaborating in multiple areas. We should not forget the ladder after we have climbed up,” he added.

Russia’s Consul General in Chennai, Valerii Khodzhaev, also said that India and Russia had a “long-lasting relationship.”