According to experts, for a navigation system to run, at least four satellites must be functional. This means that with the IRNSS-1F now completing its 10-year mission life, India’s indigenous navigational system is defunct. NavIC, once envisioned as India’s answer to the satellite navigation systems run by the US, China, Russia and Europe, has now become a casualty of years of neglect, technical failures, ageing satellites and delayed replacement launches, pushing India further behind in a technology that now underpins both economic competitiveness and modern warfare. ISRO’s focus on bigger missions like Gaganyaan, India’s first human spaceflight, and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station...