NavIC
◇ The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on a series of improvements to the ‘NavIC’ so that more people are motivated to install and use it.
□ What is NavIC?
◇ NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), is a constellation of seven satellites that can be used to track location.
◇ It is akin to the American GPS, the European Galileo and the Russian GLONASS Navigation systems.
◇ The first of these satellites (IRNSS-1A) was launched in 2013 and the latest in 2018.
◇ Though available for use in mainland India as well as a range of 1,500 km around it, it isn’t in wide regular use in India primarily because mobile phones haven’t been made compatible to process its signals.
◇ The Indian government has been pressing manufacturers to add compatibility and has set a deadline of January 2023 but media reports suggest this is unlikely before 2025.
