On Thursday, India's GSAT-24 satellite, built by ISRO for NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), was successfully launched by French company Arianespace on its Ariane 5 space launch vehicle from Kourou in French Guiana, in South America.
GSAT-24 is a 24-Ku band communication satellite weighing 4180 kg with pan-India coverage for meeting DTH application needs.
NSIL, incorporated in March 2019, is a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE), under Department of Space (DOS) and is the commercial arm of ISRO.
Why is it being launched on a French rocket?
At present, India does not have a space-launch rocket capable of lifting a satellite that weighs more than 4 tons into geostationary orbit - that is, an orbit has an orbital period equal to Earth's rotational period, and so to ground observers it appears motionless, in a fixed position in the sky.
Communications satellites are often placed in a geostationary orbit so that Earth-based satellite antennas (located on Earth) do not have to rotate to track them but can be pointed permanently at the position in the sky where the satellites are located.
At present, India's most powerful rocket, the GSLV Mk3, can lift a maximum of 4 tons into geostationary orbit - too little to lift a 4 ton+ satellite like the GSAT-24.
GSAT-24: What is it?
GSAT-24 is a 24-Ku band communication satellite weighing 4180 kg with Pan India coverage for meeting DTH application needs. NSIL has leased the entire satellite capacity to M/s Tata Play.
It is the first demand driven satellite configured by ISRO, owned, operated and funded by NewSpace India Limited for commercial user.
This communication satellite is configured with the primary objective to augment satellite based DTH and VSAT services in BSS Ku-band.
Its 24 Ku-band transponders ahve an enhanced Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) of 53.5 dBW, with coverage over the Indian mainland, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands.
What is it used for?
Enhanced EIRP results in more DTH channels within the same spectrum, more HD channels or system robustness with additional rain fade margin.
• A satellite based interactive educational services for class room connectivity employing DTH quality broadcast.
• Telecommunications and emerging applications like digital cinema, high speed backhaul links, bulk-data transfer etc.
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