NEW DELHI, India, Jan 29: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) took off as scheduled from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre today at 7:53 p.m. EST (00:53 GMT, and 6:23 a.m. local time on January 29).

This launch marked the 100th liftoff from the historic spaceport, located on Sriharikota, an island off India’s southeastern coast. The first orbital launch from this site took place in August 1979, as reported by The Hindu.

The mission, NVS-02, is the second of five planned next-generation satellites in the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) series. NavIC is India’s independent regional navigation satellite system, designed to offer precise Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) services to users across India and the region extending about 1,500 km (930 miles) beyond its borders. According to ISRO officials, the primary service area for NavIC is within India and its surrounding regions.

India began assembling the NavIC system about a decade ago, with the first NVS satellite launched in May 2023 aboard a GSLV rocket. These five new spacecraft aim to enhance the NavIC constellation, ensuring continuity and improved services for users.

Tonight's successful launch is India’s first space mission of 2025. In 2024, India completed five space missions, including the historic SpaDeX satellite-docking demonstration on December 30.