ISRO's GSLV-F18/NVS-03 launch crucial for phased revival of NAVIC

ISRO's third space launch of 2026, the GSLV-F18 rocket carrying the 2,250kg NVS-03 satellite, is crucial to enable a phased revival of India's defunct Navigation satellite fleet known as NAVIC. Navigation with Indian Constellation(NAVIC) was envisaged as an Indian version of America's GPS or Russia's GLONASS or China's Beidou. While GPS, GLONASS, and Beidou provide global coverage, NAVIC is meant to serve civilian and defence users within Indian borders and 1,500 km beyond. NAVIC is a project of immense strategic significance, as it is meant to serve the Armed Forces and civilians. ISRO officials confirmed to WION that the countdown for the 24-hour countdown to the launch mission scheduled for 11:51 pm, Friday (Oct 30th), is progressing smoothly.

18 minutes and 40 seconds after lifting off from the Second launchpad at ISRO's Sriharikota Spaceport, the GSLV-F18 rocket is meant to eject the NVS-03 satellite into its initial orbit. After placing the NVS-03 in it its initial Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit(GTO), ISRO will have to fire the satellite's thrusters to raise it to its eventual orbit. The NVS-03 satellite carries an Indigenous Atomic clock, along with the procured Atomic clocks. It also includes L1 signal in addition to existing L5/S-band signals.

The present state of NAVIC

Theoretically, a bare minimum of four satellites are required for the functioning of NAVIC's core services. At present, barely 3 of 11 NAVIC satellites are fulfilling their core purpose, information shared by the Indian Government reveals.

Right now, there are three NAVIC satellites believed to be capable of providing Positioning, Navigation & Timing services: first-generation satellites IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1I; and second-generation satellite NVS-01. Of these three, IRNSS-1B has lived longer than its expected life of 10 years, and could potentially fail at any time. If all goes well, IRNSS-1I could potentially function till 2028. NVS-01 has at least a decade of life ahead of it, if it functions as designed. NVS-02 was launched in January 2025, but the satellite got stuck in its initial orbit, as its onboard engines could not be fired for orbit raising. Stuck in its initial orbit, NVS-02 is of very limited use.

Therefore, considering long-term functionality, only the NVS-01 satellite can be considered truly operational, because of the decade-long service that lay ahead of it.

How many satellites are needed to revive NAVIC?

If the Indian Government wishes to revive and sustain NAVIC in its basic form, it must place at least three more NVS-series satellites in orbit, all in quick succession. To resuscitate and revive NAVIC to its minimal level of four satellites, the Indian space agency ISRO must also launch NVS-04 and NVS-05 satellites, which can work together with the existing NVS-01 and the NVS-03(which is scheduled for launch tonight). However, that is the basic requirement. To have higher reliability and robust capabilities, India would also have to build and launch backup satellites in the NVS series. Eventually, a fleet of six or seven satellites would have to be maintained for reliably operating a regional Navigation system such as NAVIC.

How do NAVIC's global peers compare?

America's Global Positioning System(GPS), which supports trillion-dollar civilian and military applications worldwide, requires a fleet of 24 satellites in orbit for optimum performance and round-the-clock global coverage. Considering how crucial GPS is to the global economy, the US Government maintains at least 30 GPS satellites in orbit at any given point in time. The six additional satellites are meant to ensure that the service remains reliable and robust, even when a few satellites fail or encounter unexpected glitches.

To meet its own national requirements, China operates a fleet of Beidou satellites, which serve as an alternative to America's GPS. While Beidou's global network requires a fleet of 30 satellites in orbit, around 35 satellites are believed to be in orbit.

NVS-series and the pace of launches so far

ISRO launched NVS-01 in May 2023; NVS-02 was launched in January 2025, which is after a gap of 19 months. NVS-03 is flying to space in October 2026, which is almost 20 months after NVS-02. ISRO has also faced three failures in six missions executed from home soil between January 2025 and January 2026, further slowing down the overall pace of activity.

The wide gulf between rhetoric and execution

In mid-2025, the Indian Government had revealed in Parliament that an NVS-series satellite was planned to be launched by the end of the year. Subsequently, with a gap of six months, NVS-04 & NVS-05 are planned to be launched, it was announced. However, none of these satellites was launched. This amply indicates the wide gulf between the rhetoric and implementation.

If ISRO indeed is looking to launch three NAVIC satellites in quick succession, it must build and assemble GSLV (formerly known as GSLV Mk2) rockets accordingly. While the 52-meter-tall GSLV rocket is the most suited vehicle for carrying the 2,250kg NVS-series satellites, it must be noted that only one satellite can be carried per rocket due to lifting power limitations. Going by the recent record, ISRO has done only one or two GSLV launches in a year. If ISRO were to launch multiple NVS-series missions in quick succession, it would affect schedules of other launches that are in the pipeline. It must be remembered that ISRO does barely five or seven launches from home soil in a year. In 2026, this GSLV-F18/NVS-03 mission is ISRO's third launch.