NVS-03: India’s own GPS prepares a strong comeback

After nearly seven months without a successful launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation is preparing to try again. Senior officials have confirmed that NVS-03, an important satellite of India's own navigation system called NavIC, is fully ready at the Sriharikota spaceport.

The launch window opens in the first week of September, and the exact date will be announced soon. ISRO has faced a challenging year so far, and there are hopes that this mission will mark a strong return.

Union Science and Technology and Space Minister Dr Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha earlier this month that NVS-03 is ready. He added that after this satellite, NVS-04 and NVS-05 will be sent one after another.

A few weeks later, GISAT-1A, also known as EOS-05, will follow. This advanced Earth-imaging satellite can watch Indian territory almost in real time and will help in monitoring weather, disasters and borders.

“NavIC is India's own version of the American GPS, Russian GLONASS, European Galileo and Chinese BeiDou. It was built so that our country does not have to depend only on foreign systems for finding locations. Think of it as a group of satellites high above the Earth, sending signals to phones, cars, ships and aeroplanes so they know exactly where they are. For farmers tracking tractors, fishermen at sea, trains running on time, or soldiers in remote areas, such a system is very useful. But at present NavIC is not working at full strength, because many of its older satellites have grown weak or stopped giving proper signals,” explained space analyst Girish Linganna.

A major setback came in January last year (2025) when the NVS-02 mission only partly succeeded, and the satellite did not reach the right orbit. In 2016, the atomic clocks on the first satellite, IRNSS-1A, stopped working. IRNSS was the earlier name of this system before it became NavIC. ISRO said the remaining six satellites were still useful, yet some of their rubidium atomic clocks had hardware issues.

IRNSS-1H, launched in August 2017 to replace the failed one, never reached the correct orbit because the heat shield did not open on time. In a March reply to Parliament, the minister said that out of eleven NavIC satellites launched, eight were still working. Five of them could send one-way messages, while only three were giving proper navigation signals.

This year has been especially hard, as ISRO’s first launch attempt in January 2026 failed to put satellites into orbit. So NVS-03 will be watched closely as the second try of 2026. Officials say successes and setbacks are both normal in space work.

What makes NVS-03 better and more useful?

Experts say that it is its new design. It belongs to the second generation of NavIC satellites. Unlike the older ones, it carries an Indian-made rubidium atomic clock developed by the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad. Earlier satellites used imported clocks that often failed. An atomic clock is a special timekeeper that uses the natural vibration of atoms, such as rubidium, to measure time with extreme accuracy.

The satellite sends a signal along with the exact time at which it left. A phone or receiver measures how long the signal took to arrive and then calculates the distance. Even a tiny error of one billionth of a second can shift the position by many metres. The new Indian clock is more reliable and stable, reducing the chance of sudden failures that troubled the system earlier.

“NVS-03 also sends signals in three frequency bands – L5, S and the new L1 band. The L1 band is the same one used by GPS in most mobile phones and small devices. This change means ordinary smartphones, fitness bands and low-power gadgets can receive NavIC signals easily, without needing special chips. The satellite is designed to work for about twelve years, longer than the ten-year life of the first-generation ones. It is heavier too, around 2,250 kilograms, and will ride on a GSLV Mk II rocket. Engineers have also added improved bi-propellant systems and every corrective step learned from the NVS-02 problem, so that the satellite reaches and stays in the right orbit,” added Linganna.

Once NVS-03 joins the working satellites, NavIC will move closer to the minimum of four needed for independent positioning. More satellites will follow, covering the whole country and an area 1,500 kilometres beyond our borders with better accuracy. Civilian users are expected to get clearer location data, while defence forces will have secure, encrypted signals. With indigenous clocks, longer life and wider compatibility, this launch marks a big step towards a self-reliant navigation system for the entire nation.