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ISRO Celebrates 100th Rocket Launch with Successful Navigation Satellite Mission

ISRO marks its 100th rocket launch with the successful deployment of GSLV-F15 carrying the NVS-02 satellite. This milestone follows past setbacks and highlights India’s progress in space technology.

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ISRO Celebrates 100th Rocket Launch with Successful Navigation Satellite Mission

ISRO today marked a milestone in its glorious history by successfully launching GSLV-F15 carrying the NVS-02 satellite at 6:23 AM from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The historic launch makes ISRO mark its 100th rocket mission and is a momentous occasion for the space agency. More so, it was the first mission under newly appointed Chairman V. Narayanan, who recently took over the office.

This was the first mission of ISRO in 2025, which also marked a successful launch.

GSLV-F15 successfully put NVS-02 into orbit.

In his address during the successful launch, Chairman V Narayanan pointed out how importance this milestone was. “This mission is the 100th launch, which is a very significant milestone,” he said. He clarified further that data received after the launch confirmed that all vehicle systems were normal. “In this mission, the data has come; all vehicle systems are normal,” he added, confirming that the mission is successful.

ISRO has proved that it is on the right track with the successful launch of GSLV-F15 carrying the NVS-02 satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). This is the latest milestone in the long history of space achievements in India, which started with the country’s first big rocket, the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV), launched on August 10, 1979.

ISRO Overcomes Past Setbacks with GSLV Rocket

The GSLV program had some previous failures with the GSLV-F15 rocket, but it was touted as the “naughty boy” of ISRO. Of the 16 attempts made earlier, six were considered unsuccessful, bringing down the failure percentage to 37%. The GSLV rocket, now, had emerged as an extremely reliable vehicle from ISRO, where it was showing that it could not be taken on a platter or easily and showed the capabilities of ISRO with the improvement of rocket science.

GSLV-F15 is the 17th launch of the GSLV program from India and the 11th launch using an indigenously developed cryogenic stage. In addition, it is the 8th operational flight of GSLV with the indigenous cryogenic stage, which underscores the skill of India’s ability to manufacture cryogenic engines on its own. That was a skill India took two decades to achieve after it was told not to get technology transfer from Russia on the issue following pressure from the United States.

NavIC: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System

The NVS-02 satellite on GSLV-F15 is an important launch as part of India’s own Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) program, providing India with its independent regional navigation satellite system. The NavIC system offers accurate Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) services not only to India but also to a region extending 1,500 km beyond Indian borders.

NavIC will have two classes of services Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which will provide a better position accuracy than 20 meters and Restricted Service (RS). The idea for this development lies in India’s experience during the 1999 Kargil conflict when others denied the country high-quality GPS data. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had promised the country a swadeshi or indigenous GPS for its strategic needs, and now NavIC is the product of that vision.

Looking Ahead: Hitting New Milestones

With the successful launch of GSLV-F15 and the NVS-02 satellite, ISRO hopes to put behind the early challenges faced by both the navigation satellites and the rocket system. As the space agency celebrates its 100th launch, ISRO looks forward to continued success in the coming years.

The 100th launch of GSLV-F15 marked a major achievement in the history of ISRO but also gave hope to the agency for its future in space exploration and technological advancement.