Pakistan launches 6 satellites to watch India as Isro's NavIC struggles with failures

Pakistan has launched six Chinese-backed Earth-observation satellites as India struggles to restore NavIC. The contrast has sharpened concern over surveillance capability and the reliability of India's sovereign navigation network.

In Short

• NavIC supports both civilian users and encrypted military services
• By 2026 the constellation has entered a critical phase
• NavIC emerged after Kargil to reduce foreign dependence during military crises

While Pakistan has rapidly expanded its space-based surveillance capabilities with a series of Chinese-backed satellite launches, India’s indigenous navigation system NavIC is facing its most serious challenge since its inception, highlighting a widening contrast in the space capabilities of the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

While India remains superior in other space-based domains compared to Islamabad, the new satellite blitz from the neighbourhood has raised concerns across Indian power corridors.

Over the past 16 months, Pakistan has launched six Earth-observation satellites, creating what experts describe as an increasingly capable surveillance constellation that can monitor developments across Indian territory with greater frequency and precision. The launches, many undertaken with extensive Chinese support, represent a dramatic acceleration for Pakistan's traditionally modest space programme.

The satellite buildup began even before the Pahalgam terror attack and India's subsequent Operation Sindoor, suggesting a longer-term strategic effort to strengthen Pakistan's space-based intelligence gathering capabilities.

According to analysts, the significance of the new constellation lies not merely in the number of satellites but in their combined capability. Together, the satellites can capture high-resolution imagery, track changes on the ground, detect concealed or camouflaged objects and maintain persistent surveillance over areas of military and strategic interest.

"The constellation that has emerged from this sixteen-month burst is not a civilian earth observation system that happens to have military applications on the side," Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, former Flag Officer of the Indian Navy, wrote in an analysis of Pakistan's recent launches. He argued that the satellites' orbital architecture, sensor payloads and institutional backing indicate a system with clear strategic and security applications.

WHERE IS ISRO'S NAVIC?

The rapid expansion comes at a time when India is grappling with difficulties in one of its most important space infrastructure projects, the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).

Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), NavIC was designed as India's independent answer to the American GPS system. The programme was born out of lessons learned during the Kargil War, when India recognised the strategic risks associated with depending on foreign navigation services during military crises.

NavIC provides Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services across India and extends coverage roughly 1,500 kilometres beyond its borders, including much of the Indian Ocean Region.

The system supports both civilian users and encrypted military services used for strategic operations.

However, by 2026 the constellation has entered a critical phase.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH INDIA'S NAVIC?

Several of the first-generation satellites launched between 2013 and 2016 have exceeded or are nearing the end of their design lives.

A number of them have suffered failures of their rubidium atomic clocks — the ultra-precise timing devices that form the backbone of any satellite navigation network. Once these clocks fail, a navigation satellite can no longer provide accurate positioning information.

The situation worsened earlier when NVS-02, a second-generation replacement satellite intended to strengthen the network, suffered propulsion-related problems and failed to reach its intended operational orbit. The setback disrupted Isro's plans to replenish the ageing constellation.

As a result, the number of fully operational navigation satellites has fallen sharply. Industry assessments suggest that only a handful of spacecraft, including IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1I and NVS-01, currently remain capable of delivering full navigation services.

Some analysts count an additional partially functional satellite, but the constellation remains significantly below its originally planned strength of seven satellites.

The decline is particularly concerning because a robust regional navigation system ideally requires at least seven operational satellites, while a minimum of four is generally needed for reliable three-dimensional positioning coverage.

WHAT IS ISRO DOING?

Despite the challenges, Isro has not abandoned the programme. Additional replacement satellites are being prepared as part of the second-generation NavIC constellation, which introduces L1-band signals alongside the existing L5 and S-band frequencies.

The upgrade is expected to improve compatibility with smartphones and accelerate wider civilian adoption.

For India, restoring NavIC is about far more than navigation. The system plays a critical role in missile guidance, naval operations, secure military communications, disaster management, fleet tracking and strategic infrastructure synchronisation.

As Pakistan rapidly strengthens its eyes in the sky, India now faces the urgent task of ensuring that its own sovereign navigation backbone remains operational. The race for space-based strategic advantage in South Asia is increasingly being fought not only on the ground, but also hundreds of kilometres above it.

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