NavIC explained: How India’s GPS alternative works and why it matters in a crisis

India has launched 11 satellites under its indigenous navigation system NavIC, with eight currently operational, the Centre informed Parliament on Wednesday. Of these, three are actively broadcasting navigation signals, while five provide one-way messaging services, minister of state Jitendra Singh said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.NavIC is designed to deliver Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services over India and a region extending up to 1,500 km beyond its landmass. The system supports a range of applications including civilian navigation, maritime operations and disaster management.The government said discussions are ongoing with the Airports Authority of India and the ministry of civil aviation regarding the adoption of NavIC in air traffic management.

At present, India’s satellite-based augmentation system GAGAN is operational and provides services for air navigation.The Department of Space (DoS) is also working to expand NavIC’s use across key sectors such as real-time train tracking, fishing vessel communication and support systems, vehicle location tracking for passenger safety, and dissemination of Indian Standard Time (IST).NavIC also has a strategic dimension, with its encrypted Restricted Service catering to authorised users, including defence forces, enabling secure navigation and timing support independent of foreign systems.

Officials added that DoS is actively pursuing the operationalisation of NavIC and associated satellite systems for secure navigation services. The roadmap includes completing the base-layer constellation, enhancing service capabilities in line with user requirements, and incorporating indigenous technologies such as space-grade atomic clocks to boost technological self-reliance.

What is NavIC?

Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), NavIC—earlier known as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)—is India’s regional satellite navigation system aimed at providing independent positioning, navigation and timing capabilities.The system was originally designed with a constellation of seven satellites—three in geostationary orbit and four in inclined geosynchronous orbit—supported by a network of ground stations operating round the clock. It offers two services: Standard Positioning Service (SPS) for civilian users and Restricted Service (RS) for strategic users.NavIC signals are transmitted in L5 and S bands, with a new civilian L1 band signal being introduced to improve interoperability with global navigation satellite systems such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou.

According to Isro, the system provides position accuracy better than 20 metres and timing accuracy better than 50 nanoseconds.Its applications span transportation (road, rail, air and marine), location-based services, personal mobility, surveying and geodesy, resource monitoring, scientific research, time dissemination and synchronisation, and safety-of-life alert dissemination.