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Advanced space rubidium atomic frequency standard for satellite navigation

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Abstract

NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is a regional satellite navigation system called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The NavIC is presently composed of seven operational satellite configuration geometry. We present indigenously designed and developed RAFS for NavIC, named IRAFS—Indian Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard. The IRAFS Physics Package (PP) and electronics have novel design features, as explained in this article. We present the IRAFS performances tested in thermo-vacuum conditions demonstrating < 2 × 10–12 τ−1/2 stability, reaching a flicker floor of 3 × 10–14 with a drift of < 5 × 10–13/day. The IRAFS has a mass of 7.6 kg, a volume of 16 L, and consumes power of 75 W at warm-up and < 40 W in normal operation.

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Data availability

This work was performed at the Space Applications Center (SAC) under the indigenous clock development contract for the Indian Navigation System. All the data presented in the paper are part of the clock research and development and are available at the SAC.

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Acknowledgments

The clock team members all have engineering degrees, except Richa Sharma Kesarkar, who has a Ph.D. degree in Physics in September 2015 from the Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, India. They are engineering/scientific or management staff members at SAC, ISRO, Ahmedabad, India. The authors would like to thank Chairman-ISRO, K. Sivan, and Director-SAC, N. M. Desai for their continued support and encouragement. The author is indebted and thankful to A. S. Kiran Kumar—Dr. Vikram Sarabhai professor, and Alak K. Banik (deceased), for their guidance and constant inspiration for the IRAFS development. Thanks also to S. N. Patel, T. Katiyar, N. L. Bhagwandas, A. Bhavsar, B. S. Munjal, R. Bhavsar, A. Sen Gupta and T. S. Ganesh for continued support. We thank the timely actions by mechanical fabrication, PCB facilities, and surface treatment teams of SAC-ISRO. The author would like to appreciate and thank the excellent contributions of the clock development team at SAC-ISRO: J. Kaintura, D. Attri, M. A. Saiyed, R. Sharma-Kesarkar, P. Sinha, B. Ghoshal, S. Mandal, B. Ghosh, P. Jain, P. Priya, K. Shukla, A. Soni, S. Somani, A. Patel, R. Kuchana, K. Karthik, CVN Rao, TVS Ram and K. S. Parikh. The team comprises of engineers at various levels, from technical staff to managerial staff.

Funding

This work was funded by the Department of Space, Government of India.

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Author notes

  1. Thejesh N. Bandi

    Present address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Satellite Road, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380058, India

    Thejesh N. Bandi, N. M. Desai, J. Kaintura, D. Attri, M. A. Saiyed, R. Sharma-Kesarkar, P. Sinha, B. Ghoshal, S. Mandal, B. Ghosh, P. Jain, P. Priya, K. Shukla, A. Soni, S. Somani, A. Patel, R. Kuchana, K. Karthik, C. V. N. Rao, T. V. S. Ram & K. S. Parikh

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  1. Thejesh N. Bandi
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the clock team

  • N. M. Desai
  • , J. Kaintura
  • , D. Attri
  • , M. A. Saiyed
  • , R. Sharma-Kesarkar
  • , P. Sinha
  • , B. Ghoshal
  • , S. Mandal
  • , B. Ghosh
  • , P. Jain
  • , P. Priya
  • , K. Shukla
  • , A. Soni
  • , S. Somani
  • , A. Patel
  • , R. Kuchana
  • , K. Karthik
  • , C. V. N. Rao
  • , T. V. S. Ram
  •  & K. S. Parikh

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thejesh N. Bandi.

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Bandi, T.N., the clock team. Advanced space rubidium atomic frequency standard for satellite navigation. GPS Solut 26, 54 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-022-01239-x

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