The IT Facts

The idea to make our own Navigation system was put in place after Kargil war to ensure there was no dependency on foreign-controlled systems like US GPS. NAVIC consists of seven satellites placed in the orbit which can provide services to both the citizens and the military. NAVIC became operational in Sept 2016.

Smartphones with the latest Qualcomm chipsets can now latch on to NavIC. NavIC is India's own navigation system, similar to the U.S.' GPS. It works based on the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). There are currently eight IRNSS satellites in geosynchronous and geostationary orbits. The IRNSS-1A launched in 2013 was India’s first navigation satellite.