BENGALURU, Jan 29 (Reuters) - India successfully

launched into orbit on Wednesday a new navigation satellite

aboard a home-grown rocket, strengthening its independent

satellite positioning system at a time when space-based

technologies are becoming increasingly critical.

The NVS-02 satellite lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space

Centre in Sriharikota about 6:23 a.m. IST (0053 GMT) aboard the

GSLV-F15 rocket, marking the latest step in India's efforts to

expand its Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system.

Designed to provide positioning services over India and

surrounding regions, NavIC has been positioned by the country as

India's answer to the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS),

China's BeiDou, the European Galileo, and Russia's GLONASS.

The launch, ISRO's 100th, comes as competition in space

intensifies, with countries racing to expand satellite networks

that power everything from defence operations to smartphone

navigation and financial transactions.

Jitendra Singh, India's minister of Science and Technology

said, "It's a privilege to be associated with the Department of

Space at the historic moment of this record feat."

In 2024, the United States led with 145 space launches,

driven largely by SpaceX, while China followed with 68,

according to industry data. India, historically a smaller

player, is increasing its launch cadence, with ISRO planning 30

missions by March 2025.