NEW DELHI: Elon Musk, who supported Donald Trump in his victory in the US presidential election, will now bail out India. Musk-owned American space company SpaceX will launch one of the India's heaviest communication satellites,
Gsat-20
, weighing 4,700 kg.
Confirming this to TOI, Isro chairman S Somanath said, "SpaceX's Falcon9 will launch Isro's Gsat-20, also called GSAT N-2, on November 19."
Isro's heavy lifter LVM-3, popularly known as 'Bahubali' or 'Fat Boy', can lift up to 4,000kg or 4 tonnes satellite into the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). However, as Gsat-20 weighs more than 4 tonnes, Isro is seeking help from SpaceX for launching its satellite with its heavy-lifter
Falcon-9
rocket, which can launch payloads of 8300 kg or 8.3 tonnes to GTO.
Isro was till now dependent on Arianespace to launch its heavier satellites, but the European space rocket at present lacked commercial slots for the Isro launch. This is because Arianespace's Ariane-5 rocket retired last year and commercial satellite slots for the next few launches of its successor Ariane-6 are already booked. With Russia engaged in the Ukraine conflict and China's commercial services never considered by India, SpaceX is the only reliable option for India.
The Gsat-20 or GSAT N-2, a continuation of Gsat series of communication satellites, is funded, owned and operated by Isro's commercial arm New Space India Limited. The satellite, which has a mission life of 14 years, features a Ka-band high-throughput communications payload with 70 Gbit/s throughput utilising 40 beams offering HTS capacity of nearly 48Gpbs. Each beam will have two polarisations, effectively making them 80 beams.
The satellite is intended to add data transmission capacity to communication infrastructure required by the Union govt's Smart City mission. It will also help enable in-flight internet connectivity. The satellite was initially expected to be launched on Isro's LVM-3 rocket, but was later shifted to Falcon-9 as it was 700 kg overweight.
As India lacks a launcher for over 4-tonne satellites, Isro has fast-tracked the development of its
Next Generation Launch Vehicle
(NGLV). The Rs 8,240-crore NGLV program is designed to enhance payload capacity threefold compared to the current LVM3, while its cost will be only 1.5 times more. NGLV is designed to have a maximum payload capability of 30 tonnes to the Low Earth Orbit and will also have a reusable first stage.
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