India’s indigenous satellite navigation system, NavIC, has encountered a setback with the failure of satellite IRNSS-1F due to an atomic clock malfunction. This has reduced the number of operational satellites to just three – IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1L, and NVS-01.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed that IRNSS-1F, launched in March 2016, has exceeded its expected 10-year design life but faced an atomic clock malfunction on March 13, 2026. Despite this, the satellite will continue to operate for societal applications, offering one-way broadcast messaging services.
Since the initiation of the NavIC navigation program in July 2013, ISRO has launched a total of 11 satellites, with six experiencing failures primarily attributed to defective imported atomic clocks and orbital complications. The Union government disclosed that out of the 11 deployed NavIC satellites, only four were fully operational for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services, while the others were utilized in limited capacities.
Source: mint – technology