NavIC - the Indian GPS Goes Limited, Needs New Satellites Soon

NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) or IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) has got a major setback, as it's services have became limited. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Space Dr Jitendra Singh said only three satellites in the NavIC constellation are presently capable of providing Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services. 

To provide basic positioning service, a minimum of 4 operational satellites are required in orbit. Hence, the NavIC constellation with 3 active satellites cannot provide standalone positioning service; however, timing service is functional. 

However Indian government said users are not facing operational vulnerabilities because NavIC is now used alongside other global satellite navigation systems in a multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) environment as receivers to combine signals from GPS, Galileo, GLONASS and NavIC for navigation. 

NAVIC is Coming to Your Smartphones in Late 2019

On Oct 14, 2019 Qualcomm announced support for Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) backed Indian Regional Naviagation Satellite System (IRNSS) in select chipset platforms across the company's upcoming portfolio, which marks the India's indigenous technological prowess.

The collaboration delivered the first-ever NavIC (brand name of IRNSS, acronym for NAVigation with Indian Constellation) demonstration using the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Mobile Platforms on September 19th, and later again at India Mobile Congress, October 14-16. Support for NavIC will be available in select Qualcomm Technologies’ chipset platforms starting in late 2019 and commercial devices with NavIC support are expected to be available during the first half of 2020.