NVS-03 completes its first orbit-raising burn on the way to the NavIC slot at 111.75 degrees East

31 October 2026

The Indian Space Research Organisation has completed the first orbit-raising burn of its navigation satellite NVS-03. The spacecraft was placed in an injection orbit of 170.3 km by 38,080 km by a GSLV launch late on the previous evening. The first burn of the Liquid Apogee Motor lasted 2,174.8 seconds and lifted the orbit to an estimated 5,477.6 km by 37,833.4 km. The agency said satellite health is normal and that further burns are planned to reach geosynchronous orbit at the 111.75 degrees East slot. NVS-03 is the third satellite of the second-generation navigation series that keeps the IRNSS or NavIC service running. It carries an indigenous atomic clock along with procured clocks and transmits in the L1, L5 and S bands. The service covers the Indian land mass and a region of about 1,500 km beyond India's boundary.