Dr K Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that the space agency is planning to launch the first Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) satellite in 2013.

He said that the country will have its own operational navigation satellite in the coming two years. The first satellite, which is a part of a series of seven satellites group, will allow users to have an accuracy levels of lesser than 20 metres in places across the country as well as in areas extending as far as 1,000 km from Indian borders.

The seven satellite Navigation System, which is being developed at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore, will put the country into a small group of elite nations that have their own navigation systems. The system will have both civilian as well as military applications.

He also said that the ISRO would launch Astrosat, an Indian multi wavelength astronomy satellite, in 2014, while addressing the second convocation of The National Degree College. He also said that the country has worked to bring the benefit of space technologies to for common applications.

“We have eight modern communication satellites, which is touching all of our lives. Nearly 70 nations make use of the data from our remote sensing satellites,” he said.