Countdown begins for PSLV-C22 at Sriharikota

*It carries India's first dedicated navigation satellite *IRNSS-1A will provide accurate positional information *Its coverage extends up to 1,500 km from its boundary *24th mission of PSLV's launch at 11.41 pm on July 1 *It is the first midnight launch of a navigation satellite ISRO lines up new projects: Following the Monday launch of navigational satellite, ISRO is planning to launch its communication satellite G-Sat 14 using a heavier rocket - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) - powered with a domestic cryogenic engine sometime in August this year. Preparatory work for the G-Sat 14 launch is going ahead at the rocket launch pad in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from here. It will be followed by the mission to Mars later this year. The launch of one more remote sensing satellite is also being planned before the end of the year. Chennai (PTI): The 64-and-a-half-hour countdown for the launch of PSLV-C22, carrying India's first dedicated navigation satellite IRNSS-1A on July 1, began on Saturday at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, some 80 km from here. "The 64-and-a-half-hour countdown for the launch of PSLV-C22, which will carry IRNSS-1A started this morning at 7.11 am. We are on schedule and everything is normal," ISRO spokesman Deviprasad Karnik told PTI. ISRO said the satellite, with navigation and ranging payloads, would provide accurate positional information to users as well as the whole region extending up to 1,500 km from India's boundary. IRNSS-1A has already been mounted on an 'XL' version of the launch vehicle, ISRO's 24th mission of a PSLV. IRNSS-1A, which will be launched at 11.41 pm on July 1, is one of seven satellites constituting the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) space segment. According to the ISRO official, this is the first time India is launching a rocket from its soil around midnight - the rocket launch is fixed at 11.41 p.m. Monday. "We have had late evening and early morning launches. But this is the first time ISRO is launching a rocket around midnight," the official said. He said ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan is expected to have a brief meeting with the media at the rocket port post launch which will be around 12.45 am on Tuesday. The official said the launch time has been fixed taking into account the orbit and inclination at which the satellite will be injected. Around 20 minutes into the launch, the rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL (PSLV-XL) will eject the navigational satellite at an altitude of 501 km. According to ISRO, the 1,425 kg navigational satellite IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System)-1A is intended to provide terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation services and help in disaster and fleet management.