The highly anticipated Apple iPhone 15 series was just recently launched. The new smartphones are set to go on sale later this month across the globe, with India also seeing a same-day launch for the first time. But this isn’t the only first for the region as the brand’s iPhone 15 Pro models will finally support local GPS technology as well.

Apple iPhone 15 Pro series finally feature NavIC

According to a TechCrunch report, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are the first ever iPhone models to feature NavIC for GPS. For those unaware, this is an indigenous GPS technology that was developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). NavIC employs seven satellites that covers India and a region of around 1,500 kilometers beyond the nation’s boundary. It also serves various other purposes like terrestrial, aerial, and marine transportation.

This feature was found on the detailed spec list of the iPhone 15 Pro series and can be found in the cellular and wireless section. Unfortunately, the NavIC support appears to be limited to the higher-end devices. In other words, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus do not feature the local GPS technology. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are the first to feature NavIC, which follows the likes of other smartphone brands like Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Vivo.

So, ISRO’s tech has been seeing higher adoption in recent years. This move also showcases Apple’s commitment to expand in the region. It has already started assembling the new iPhone 15 lineup in the region and is seeking to further expand production in a bid to shift its reliance away from China.

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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently had a successful spacecraft launch, which took the country to the moon. Chandrayaan-3 landed on the moon’s south pole last month, but it appears that India is showing no signs of stopping its venture into space. A mere week after the successful moon landing, the country has now launched another new spacecraft that is setting its sights on the Sun.

India launches Aditya-L1: First Indian mission to observe the Sun

The nation’s space agency has already launched a rocket carrying Aditya-L1, which is India’s first mission dedicated to observing the Sun. For its mission, Aditya-L1 will be traveling over 930,000 miles over four months until it reaches the L1 Lagrange Point. For those unaware, this point is a place of equilibrium between two massive orbiting bodies, which in this case is the Sun and planet Earth.

The new spacecraft will remain in orbit at this point and collect data. Scientists are hoping that the information gathered by this mission will help them answer why the Sun’s corona is hotter than the surface. The data could even help provide information on how solar radiation and various solar phenomena affect communication systems, satellites, and power grids.

Scientists are hoping that Aditya-L1 may even reveal crucial information regarding solar wind behavior and its impacts on Earth’s climate. According to Sankar Subramanian, the mission’s principal scientist, “We have made sure we will have a unique data set that is not currently available from any other mission. This will allow us to understand the sun, its dynamics as well as the inner heliosphere, which is an important element for current-day technology, as well as space-weather aspects.”

Chandrayaan-3 Mission

An update on the Chandrayaan-3 mission revealed that the Vikram Lander has successfully soft-landed on the Moon again. It has exceeded its mission objectives and successfully underwent a hop experiment. The Vikram lander also performed well and deployed Ramp, ChaSTE, and ILSA that were folded back and redeployed successfully after their experiment.

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India‘s Chandrayaan-3 mission is all set to attempt a landing on the Moon‘s south pole on Wednesday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned the live telecast of the same for various times across the globe:

• New York (EDT): 8:34 AM
• Los Angeles (PDT): 5:34 AM
• London (BST): 1:34 PM
• New Delhi (IST): 6:04 PM
• Tokyo (JST): 9:34 PM
• Sydney (AEST): 10:34 PM

ISRO has one of the lowest budgets in the Space Race, yet it Delivers time and again

The live telecast is scheduled to start at 3:50 AM EDT, and you can tune in early Wednesday morning (US time) to watch the Indian lander’s descent.

This mission is a big deal for India. Chandrayaan-3 comes after the failure of Chandrayaan-2 in 2019, which crashed on its way to the Moon. But ISRO has learned from that experience. The new mission has a better design, with changes to the landing area, software updates, and backup systems.

The Moon’s south pole is a tough place to land. It has rough ground and lots of shadows from craters. But it’s also exciting because scientists think there might be water ice there. This could help with future trips to the Moon.

ISRO is keeping everyone updated on the mission through its X account (formerly Twitter). They posted early on Tuesday, “The mission is on schedule. Systems are undergoing regular checks. Smooth sailing is continuing.” India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission shows how the country is growing in space technology. The world will be watching to see if they can pull off a soft landing on the Moon’s south pole. It would be a big step forward for space exploration. The space agency has one of the lowest funding budgets in the world, but it has made significant headlines in the past. Fingers crossed!

Watch the Live Telecast for the Chandrayaan 3 Landing Here:

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ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has just successfully launched another 36 satellites from its largest LVM3 rocket. These new satellites were launched by NewSpace India Limited (MSIL) and officially completes the plans to release 72 satellites of OneWeb to Low Earth Orbit.

For those unaware, the Indian Space agency had previously deployed 36 satellites of OneWeb back in October 2022. And on Sunday (March 26), it announced that the lift off was successful and carried a total of 36 OneWeb Gen 1 satellites that weigh around 150 kilograms for a total payload of 5,805 kilograms. Following launch, the LVM3 rocket hit the required altitude of 450 kilometers in about 9 minutes.

The rocket reached the conditions to release the satellites into Low Earth Orbit in 18 minutes and began releasing these OneWeb satellites in the 20th minute mark.The new 36 OneWeb satellites were separated in 9 phases with batches of 4. OneWeb also confirmed that the satellite injection was successful as it confirmed the acquisition of signals from all 36 satellites. Notably, this mission being successful also marks the second OneWeb satellite deployment project from India.

Furthermore, this is also OneWeb’s 18th launch, which brings its total OneWeb satellite count to 618 units. The OneWeb constellation design requires 588 satellites for global coverage and additional satellites are planned for resiliency and redundancy, as per the company.

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India successfully launched its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) D2 from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota at 10:48 p.m. EST on February 10. The SSLV-D2 carried an Earth Observation satellite (EOS-07) and two other co-satellites called Janus1 and AzadiSat2 which were placed in a 450km circular orbit around our planet. 

EOS-07 is a 156.3 kg satellite designed and developed by ISRO and Janus-1 is a 10.2 kg satellite made by the US company Antaris. AzaadiSAT-2 is an 8.7kg satellite made by 750 girl students under the guidance of Space Kidz India. The whole mission was successfully completed within 15 minutes of the flight. The success of the mission was important to ISRO as the vehicle had failed its maiden flight in August 2022. 

During the August flight, SSLV ran into trouble during the second stage of separation. The rocket started vibrating intensely which then saturated all six accelerometers in the SSLV’s navigation system. This automatically pushed the rocket into salvage mode wherein it deployed the two payloads in the wrong orbit. 

The SSLV was developed by ISRO (Indian Space and Research Organization) to launch satellites to low earth orbits on a Launch-on Demand basis. The vehicle has a max capacity of 500kgs and can carry multiple payloads. 

After today’s successful launch, ISRO has gained firm ground in the commercial small and micro-satellite market. ISRO chief S. Somanathan said that the team is now preparing for the GSLV Mark III launch which will carry 236 OneWeb satellites and is also gearing up for the landing demonstration of their reusable launch vehicle. 

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Earlier this week, ISRO announced that it had successfully launched the LMV3 rocket, which carried a payload that consisted of 36 satellites from OneWeb. The launch was carried out by NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

The rocket was also deployed from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India. With this launch, ISRO and NSIL have deployed one of the biggets commercial orders by India’s space organization. Notably, it was also one of the heaviest rockets launched by ISRO. The lift off was done on 23rd October 2022 and the rocket carried a total of 36 OneWeb Gen-1 satellites of about 150 kilograms each. In other words, the total payload had a total weight of 5,796 kilograms.

These satellites were launched to a circular low earth orbit of around 601 kilometers with an 87.4 degree inclination. The separation of the satellites also involved a unique maneuver of the cryogenic stage to orientation and re-orientation. The entire process consisted of 9 phases and took around 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete. After this, OneWeb confirmed that it had started receiving signals from the satellites. The company also took to Twitter to announce the successful lift off and launch from ISRO and NSIL.

Notably, this marks the 14th launch from OneWeb, which brings its satellite constellation size to 462. This means that it has reached 70 percent of its goal to launch around 648 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites fleet that will deliver high peed low latency connectivity across the globe. OneWeb now only needs to go through four more launches to achieve its global coverage plan by 2023. Interestingly enough, OneWeb’s biggest investor is also Bharti Gobal, which is India’s largest telecom operator.

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The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) had announced earlier this week that it would be launching the first batch of the 36 satellites for OneWeb around the end of this month.

Notably, this news arrives just weeks after the OneWeb satellites arrived in India for this launch mission. As per the official announcement, ISRO will be launching the first batch of the 36 satellites by the third or fourth week of October 2022. The news arrives after the geopolitical conflict that between Russia and Ukraine, which saw a batch of 36 OneWeb satellites held hostage by Roscosmos, a Russian state backed space agency.

On the other hand, OneWeb had signed a deal with both SpaceX and ISRO to launch the rest of its planned 648 satellites into orbit. Furthermore, these satellites are set to be launched as a part of its global satellite internet network. Once all of these satellites are in orbit, they will be fly in a relay configuration and will cover the entire world. This network would also offer internet connectivity, mainly to various companies across the globe.

The connectivity offered will be used for a wide range of applications ranging from data analytics for agriculture, forestry and mining, and even for backhaul bandwidth for telecom based companies as well to help supplement their terrestrial networks. Interestingly, OneWeb is also being backed by Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel, and will soon rival other industry giants like Jio-SES and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the satellite internet market.

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Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) signs an MoU with the Chinese smartphone maker OPPO. Both the parties have joined hands to develop indigenous solutions based on NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), which is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system for India.

According to the agreement, ISRO and OPPO will develop applications for NavIC’s short messaging feature. The Indian government’s Department of Space and the Chinese tech company will exchange technical information of NavIC messaging services to build rapid, ready-to-use, end-to-end application-specific solutions.

The solution will be developed for the mobile handset platform keeping in mind the need of Indian users. OPPO reiterates its commitment towards India and its vision towards the country’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) campaign through this MoU.

The messaging service offered by NavIC is meant for broadcasting safety-of-life alerts in areas with poor or no communication, especially in the oceans. For the unaware, NavIC covers the entire Indian mainland and an area up to 1500 km beyond that.

Dr. K Sivan, Secretary, DOS (Department of Space) / Chairman, ISRO not only appreciates the efforts of OPPO in scaling the applications of NavIC but also urges the company to use NavIC in all of its upcoming products.

On the other hand, Mr Tasleem Arif, Vice President, India R&D Head, OPPO India, commented, “We’re excited to collaborate with ISRO to strengthen the NavIC application. Under our latest MoU, we will support ISRO with our industry-leading R&D capabilities to provide a seamless experience to the users of NavIC application. In line with our vision towards Make In India, OPPO will invest in further scaling the product with its competitive and experienced R&D team. To benefit our users and the government, OPPO will continue to create a positive impact in the society through our innovation and technology expertise.”

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In an effort to enhance location services in the country, American chipmaker Qualcomm has announced support for India’s Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) in some of its upcoming chipsets. Accordingly, future chipsets from Qualcomm with make use of India’s NavIC constellation which is comprised of 7 satellites that will help in improved geolocation capabilites of connected-automobiles, smartphones and IoT devices in the country.

The co-developed solution wasy successfull tested for the first time on the 19th of September. Besides, the two partners i.e Qualcomm and ISRO (India Space Research Organisation) are showcasing it at the India Mobile World Congress which is currently ongoing in the country.

In terms of reach, this geolocation system/solution can fully cover India and can even extend to regions that are as much as 1500 kms from the courtries borders. It is capable of providing real-time positioning to the on two different levels which include the following:

• Standard positioning system: It is meant to be used by general public (accurate upto 10 metres)
• Restricted service: It is highly encrytped and can only be used authorised users, the indian government, in this case. (accurate upto 0.1 metres)

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The following statement was made by Dr K Sivan who is the chairman of ISRO

NavIC is a critical step forward in our pursuit of harnessing space technology for national development and we are eager to make it accessible to everyone for their day to day use. ISRO is very happy to work with Qualcomm to enable NavIC on Mobile platforms. Qualcomm’s technology leadership and support for NavIC on their mobile platforms will bring the benefits of this indigenous solution to every Indian.

As previously mentiond, support for NavIC will be made available in select Qualcomm chipsets starting November 2019. Accordingly, commercially available chipsets with this technology can be seen in the first half of 2020.

Source 1, Source 2

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