Updated 23:35 IST, February 2nd 2025
ISRO's 100th Mission Hits Technical Snag: Navigation Satellite Fails To Reach Desired Orbit
ISRO's 100th rocket mission encountered a technical glitch on Sunday as the navigation satellite NVS-02 failed to reach its desired geostationary circular orbit

New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation's ( ISRO ) 100th rocket mission, launched on Wednesday, has encountered a technical glitch. The navigation satellite NVS-02 suffered a malfunction on Sunday, preventing it from reaching its desired geostationary circular orbit. ISRO shared the update on the mission on its website, saying that the orbit raise manoeuvres using the satellite's thruster to put NVS-02 into a circular Geostationary orbit could not be performed, as the oxidiser valve on the thruster failed to open. However, apart from the propulsion system, all the other systems of the satellite are working properly.
The ISRO officials stated that the space agency is ISRO currently exploring ways to use the satellite for its intended navigation purposes from its present elliptical orbit.
According to ISRO, “The orbit raising operations towards positioning the satellite to the designated orbital slot could not be carried out as the valves for admitting the oxidiser to fire the thrusters for orbit raising did not open.” The satellite is currently in an elliptical orbit, and ISRO is exploring alternative mission strategies to utilise the satellite for navigation.
The NVS-02 satellite, weighing 2,250kg, is part of the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system, a regional equivalent of the Global Positioning System (GPS). NavIC was developed after the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan when India was denied access to high-quality GPS data.
Space experts suggest that the satellite will not be able to perform its designated tasks from its current orbit, which ranges from 170 km to 36,577 km from Earth.
ISRO's Chairman, V Narayanan, had deemed the 100th mission as a major milestone, with the successful launch of the GSLV-F15 carrying the NVS-02 satellite at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
However, the technical glitch has raised concerns, as six out of 11 satellites launched as part of NavIC since 2013 have either entirely or partially failed.
Published 23:30 IST, February 2nd 2025