Link CopyTwitterLinkedinWhatsappNavIC Is Down To Three Satellites, And A Fix Needs FourIndia's NavIC navigation system is currently inactive, lacking enough satellites to transmit positioning signals. Despite this setback, its timing service continues to support critical infrastructure. As NavIC struggles with its original navigation function, users have turned to foreign alternatives, including GPS. The development of new satellites and indigenous atomic clocks is underway, as the government recognizes the need for multi-constellation support to maintain operation.Photo credit: X/@IndianInfoGuidThe Centre told the Lok Sabha on 29 July 2026 that NavIC cannot provide standalone positioning service, because only three satellites are broadcasting position signals against a minimum of four. The timing service continues to work. NVS-03 is ready for launch, with NVS-04 and NVS-05 in advanced stages.India's satellite navigation system has stopped being a navigation system. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Union Minister of State for Space Jitendra Singh told Parliament that NavIC "cannot provide standalone positioning service; however, timing service is functional". Three satellites are broadcasting positioning signals, one short of the four a receiver needs to work out where it is. The minister said NVS-03 is ready for launch, with NVS-04 and NVS-05 in advanced stages of realisation.About The AuthorAt heart, I am a storyteller drawn to the watershed moments that bend the technology landscape. I braid narrative with data, humanise statistics, and trace the arc from first spark to world-changing impact. My reportage, features and reviews are witty, sardonic, visual and vivid, using anecdote to illuminate rather than eviscerate.