From Google Maps to Apple Maps to Facebook and Twitter, the bulk of apps on smartphones utilise the Global Positioning System. The navigation system that provides information about location and time has become such an integral part of daily life that we rarely wonder about its history. Since its inception in the late 1970s, GPS has been owned and operated by the US. Now, India is set to become only the fourth country to have a navigation system of its own when the Indian Space Research Organisation launches the final two satellites part of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System over the next couple of months.

This episode of The Intersection explores the background behind the mission of developing IRNSS and the importance of an indigenous satellite system.

This is the latest episode of The Intersection, a fortnightly podcast on Audiomatic. For more such podcasts visit audiomatic.in.