ISRO is preparing to launch the NVS-03 navigation satellite on a GSLV-Mk2 rocket from Sriharikota, with sources pointing to a window between October 15 and 20.

The satellite will join India’s NavIC regional navigation constellation, which needs at least four working satellites for basic positioning services.

The mission is critical because the earlier NVS-02 satellite, launched in January 2025, was stranded in the wrong orbit after its propulsion system failed to fire.

NVS-03 carries an indigenously developed rubidium atomic clock, built in response to imported clock failures that degraded earlier NavIC satellites.

The Times of India reported that the rocket’s first stage has been stacked and the launch campaign began on September 14, following government clearance. NVS-03 is the second of the second-generation NavIC satellites and adds the civilian L1 band for wider mass-market use. ISRO has a busy manifest ahead, including the first uncrewed Gaganyaan flight, as it targets seven launches through March 2027.