India gets its own GPS

India on Thursday completed its mission for a regional navigational system on a par with US-based GPS with successful launch of IRNSS-1G, the seventh and last in constellation of satellites that make up the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System

When it becomes operational in a month’s time, IRNSS, or ‘desi GPS, would aid terrestrial, aerial, marine navigation, fleet tracking and disaster management. The service can also be integrated with mobile phones in the country

The new GPS will benefit the defence forces, which cannot count on foreign service providers on a long-term basis. The military can use IRNSS to find targets even in the dark or in unknown areas. The US had denied GPS information to India during the Kargil war in 1999