Chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy addressing the media conference at Camp office Tadepalli on Tuesday. Photo Handout
| Photo Credit: HANDOUT

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday (January 29, 2025) congratulated the  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO on the phenomenal achievement of its 100th launch from Sriharikota with the success of GSLV-F15/NVS-02 mission.

He expressed pride in Andhra Pradesh being home to Sriharikota, the gateway to India’s space missions, and lauded ISRO’s excellence in space technology, in a statement on Wednesday here.

Wishing ISRO continued success in all future endeavors, Mr. Reddy hailed this milestone as a testament to India’s growing leadership in space exploration.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday (January 29, 2025) morning launched its historic 100th launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The GSLV-F15 with the NVS-02 satellite lifted off from the spaceport’s second launch pad at 6.23 a.m. and 19 minutes later the GSLV-F15 with indigenous cryogenic stage placed the NVS-02 satellite in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit as intended.

Also read: ISRO 100th mission LIVE updates

“I am extremely happy to announce from the spaceport of ISRO that the first launch of this year has been successfully accomplished with the GSLV-F15 precisely placing the NVS-02 satellite into the intended orbit. This mission is our 100th launch from here. This is a significant milestone for our space programme,” said ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan.

Dr. Narayanan who assumed charge of the space agency earlier this month added that over these 100 launches ISRO has lifted 548 satellites to orbit

“We have lifted a total of 120 tonnes of payload including 23 tonnes for 433 foreign satellites,” Dr. Narayanan added.

The NVS-02 is the second satellite in the NVS series, and part of India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).

According to ISRO, NavIC is India’s independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide accurate Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) service to users in India and the region extending about 1,500 km beyond the Indian landmass, which is its primary service area.

NavIC provides two types of services: Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). NavIC SPS provides a position accuracy of better than 20 metres (2σ) and timing accuracy of better than 40 nanoseconds (2σ) over the primary service area.

NavIC provides two types of services: Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). NavIC SPS provides a position accuracy of better than 20 metres (2σ) and timing accuracy of better than 40 nanoseconds (2σ) over the primary service area.

Five second-generation NavIC satellites, NVS-01/02/03/04/05, are envisaged to augment the NavIC base layer constellation with enhanced features to ensure continuity of services. The NVS series of satellites incorporate L1 band signals to widen the services.

NVS-01, the first of the second-generation satellites, was launched on board GSLV-F12 on May 29, 2023. For the first time, an indigenous atomic clock was flown in NVS-01.

NVS-02, the second satellite in the NVS series, is configured with navigation payload in L1, L5 and S bands in addition to ranging payload in C-band like its predecessor-NVS-01. It will be placed at 111.75ºE, replacing IRNSS-1E. NVS-02 uses a combination of indigenous and procured atomic clocks for precise time estimation.

“The NavIC system is evolving as the backbone of indigenous satellite navigation ecosystem of the Indian region. The first batch of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) satellites launched in the previous decades has been successful in establishing the Personal Navigation Device (PND) services in the country, the NVS series is the second generation of these satellites that are progressively being deployed by the GSLV to augment NavIC constellation and further strengthening the PND ecosystem in the nation,” Dr. Narayanan said.

On the second indigenous atomic clock he said that this is a shining example of Make in India in critical technology development.

“Today many applications based on NavIC spanning from strategic uses, tracking of shipping vessels, time synchronization, train tracking and safety of alert life dissemination are accomplished,” he added.

ISRO chief S. Somanath expressed hope that many more Space Docking Experiments would be taken up by the scientists in the coming days. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

ISRO is gearing up to achieve a significant milestone with a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle mission scheduled in January set to become the 100th launch from the Sriharikota spaceport, a top official said.

The 99th launch from Sriharikota was Monday’s (December 30, 2024) PSLV-C60 mission which successfully placed two spacecraft for conducting the Space Docking Experiment in a circular orbit, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said.

“So, all of you have seen the majestic lift-off and the launch of the SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) rocket, and for us, this is the 99th launch of any vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Centre so, that is also a very important number. So, we are going for the 100th launch at the beginning of the next year”, he said.

Mr. Somanath, also the Secretary, the Department of Space, was talking to reporters after the PSLV-C60 mission successfully placed the Space Docking Experiment spacecraft A and B in a circular orbit.

On future launches planned by ISRO, Mr. Somanath said, “In 2025, we will have many missions to start with the GSLV launching the (navigation satellite) NVS-02 in the month of January.”

ISRO successfully placed a navigation satellite onboard the GSLV-F12/NVS-01 rocket in May 2023. This GSLV rocket successfully deployed the NVS-01 navigation satellite, weighing about 2,232 kg into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

The NVS-01 was the first of the second-generation satellites envisaged for the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) services.

On Monday’s (December 30, 2024) PSLV-C60 mission, Mr. Somanath expressed hope that many more Space Docking Experiments would be taken up by the scientists in the coming days.

“It is really an important mission with (India’s) space sector reforms and expansion of space activities. There will be many more SpaDeX varieties including complex missions of docking systems in the coming days,” he said.

Meanwhile, referring to the rescheduling of the PSLV-C60 rocket from the earlier planned 9.58 p.m. to 10 pm on December 30, Mr. Somanath said, scientists do a conjunction study to check whether a satellite going to an orbit comes very close to another satellite while travelling in the same orbit.

“If you find there is any close proximity (between satellites), then we have to move the current satellite a little bit. Either, we delay it (the launch) or make it early, so that this proximity condition does not occur,” he said.

“Scientists undertook time to fix the launch for the lift-off and decide on the best time which gives the maximum distance to be away from the other satellite in the orbit,” he added.