The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has placed its third indigenous atomic clock in orbit aboard the NVS-03 navigation satellite following the successful launch of the GSLV-F18/NVS-03 mission.
ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan told ANI that two indigenous atomic clocks were already functioning in orbit, while the third was deployed aboard the newly launched satellite.
With this launch, India has also restored its independent regional navigation satellite system, NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), to its minimum operational configuration of four satellites.
NavIC is India's equivalent of GPS, providing navigation services across the country and up to 1,500 kilometres beyond its borders.
"India has got a navigation programme. And as per the programme, we are supposed to provide navigation services for India plus 1,500 kilometres from the Indian border, called the Regional Navigation Service. For that, seven satellites are supposed to be in orbit," Narayanan said.
"NavIC is a strategic national asset which provides independent access to Position, Navigation and Timing services. It is also used for civilian applications such as real-time tracking of trains, vehicles and shipping vessels," he added.
A 50-metre-tall GSLV rocket, carrying NVS-03, lifted off as scheduled at 11.51 pm on Friday from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
After a flight of approximately 18 minutes, the primary payload separated from the launch vehicle and was injected into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
Narayanan said the mission was accomplished with a turnaround time of 56 days between successive GSLV missions, the shortest interval achieved so far.
The NVS-03 satellite is set to complement three other operational navigation satellites, including NVS-01. Its deployment will strengthen India's navigation infrastructure and support a robust Indian Standard Time (IST) system, particularly as the government has recently notified the Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026.
