With reference to the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), consider the following statements: 1) IRNSS has three satellites in geostationary and four satellites in geosynchronous orbits. 2) IRNSS covers entire India and about 5500 sq. km beyond its borders. 3) India will have its own satellite navigation system with full global coverage by the middle of 2021. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Only statement 1 is correct. IRNSS (now called NavIC) has seven satellites: three in geostationary orbit and four in inclined geosynchronous orbit. The inclined satellites trace a figure-of-eight ground track over the Indian region, which is why seven spacecraft are enough for regional coverage.

Statement 2 is wrong. NavIC's primary service area covers India and extends about 1,500 km beyond its borders. The 5,500 sq km figure is a distortion of the actual specification.

Statement 3 is wrong. NavIC is a regional system, not a global one. Its mandate is coverage of India and its neighbourhood. GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou are the global systems. The government never committed to full global coverage by 2021.

The core concept is the difference between GNSS (global) and RNSS (regional) systems. This connects to the Science and Technology syllabus on space applications. For Mains, the point is strategic autonomy in navigation, reduced dependence on foreign systems for defence and civil use, and applications such as fishermen advisories and disaster warnings.

Trap: Aspirants assume every national navigation system must be global, or they misremember the 1,500 km figure and pick option B.