A malfunctioning valve has stalled ISRO’s orbit raising operations for the NVS-02 satellite

Sub : Sci

Sec : Space technology

Why in NEWS

ISRO’s NVS-02 satellite’s orbit-raising operations have been disrupted by a valve malfunction, following its January 29th launch as part of ISRO’s 100th launch from Sriharikota.

Key update and context

ISRO’s NVS-02 satellite’s orbit-raising operations stalled due to a valve malfunction preventing oxidizer flow to thrusters.
The satellite is currently in its intended elliptical orbit.
The satellite was successfully injected into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
Solar panels deployed, power generation is nominal, and communication with the ground station is established. NVS-02 has navigation payloads in L1, L5, and S bands, plus a ranging payload in C-band.
It is intended to replace IRNSS-1E at 111.75ºE. NVS-02 uses a combination of indigenous and procured atomic clocks.

NVS-02 ISRO SATELLITE

NVS-02 is a navigation satellite designed to enhance India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system. It provides accurate Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) services.

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS): NavIC

NavIC is completely designed, developed, and operated by India, providing independence from foreign navigation systems like GPS.
Regional Coverage: It primarily covers India and a region extending 1,500 km around it, with plans for further expansion.
Constellation: NavIC consists of a constellation of 7 satellites: 3 in geostationary orbit and 4 in inclined geosynchronous orbit, ensuring continuous coverage.
Accuracy: NavIC aims to provide position accuracy better than 20 meters and timing accuracy better than 50 nanoseconds.
It will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users.

Some applications of IRNSS are:

Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation
Disaster Management
Vehicle tracking and fleet management
Integration with mobile phones
Precise Timing
Mapping and Geodetic data capture
Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers
NavIC SPS signals are designed to be interoperable with other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) like GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (European Union), and BeiDou (China).

Geostationary V/S Geosynchronous orbit

Both have the same orbital period: one day (approximately 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds). This means the satellite returns to the same position above Earth every day.
Geostationary have zero inclination. The satellite orbits directly above the equator.
Geosynchronous can have any inclination. The satellite’s orbit may be tilted relative to the equator.
Geostationary appears stationary to an observer on Earth. It stays fixed above a specific point on the equator. Geosynchronous appears to move in a figure-8 pattern over the course of a day.
A geostationary orbit is a special case of a geosynchronous orbit where the inclination is zero. So, all geostationary satellites are geosynchronous, but not all geosynchronous satellites are geostationary.
Major uses of Geostationary satellites are Communication, Disaster Management, Climate Control, Weather Forecasting Geosynchronous Satellites are mainly used for communication and DTH.