New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday responded to a question raised by Darjeeling MP Raju Bista regarding the status of India’s Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NavIC) and its differences from contemporary systems. In his reply to Bista's unstarred question, Modi also explained how NavIC differs from the United States' GPS and Russia's GLONASS.

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According to Modi, NavIC is designed to provide PNT (Position, Navigation and Timing) service over Indian landmass and 1500 kilometers beyond. "NavIC space segment consists of a constellation of seven satellites in geosynchronous orbits. Currently, there are four functional satellites providing PNT service," the reply noted.

"The satellites that are no longer capable of PNT service have been repurposed for additional useful services like safety-of-life messaging. The full constellation of seven satellites is expected to be completed in the coming years," it added.

Regarding the uniqueness of the Indian system, Modi said that NavIC is a regional system, whereas GPS and GLONASS are global systems. "However, the performance of NavIC, as seen with a seven satellite constellation, is at par with the contemporary systems in the envisaged service area," it added.

More about NavIC

The NavIC system, developed by ISRO, offers positioning accuracy within 20 metres and timing accuracy within 50 nanoseconds. Its Standard Positioning Service (SPS) signals are compatible with other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou.

NavIC has a broad range of applications, including terrestrial, aerial and marine transportation. It supports location-based services and personal mobility. The system is also used for resource monitoring, surveying and geodesy. Additionally, NavIC contributes to scientific research, time dissemination and synchronisation and the dissemination of safety-of-life alerts.