Chicago – January 29, 2025
India successfully launched into orbit on Wednesday a new navigation satellite aboard a home-grown rocket, strengthening its independent satellite positioning system at a time when space-based technologies are becoming increasingly critical.
The NVS-02 satellite lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota about 6:23 a.m. IST (0053 GMT) aboard the GSLV-F15 rocket, marking the latest step in India’s efforts to expand its Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system.
Designed to provide positioning services over India and surrounding regions, NavIC has been positioned by the country as India’s answer to the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), China’s BeiDou, the European Galileo, and Russia’s GLONASS.
The launch, ISRO’s 100th, comes as competition in space intensifies, with countries racing to expand satellite networks that power everything from defence operations to smartphone navigation and financial transactions.
