India is all set for the launch of its high-powered communication satellite, GSAT-30 onboard a European launch vehicle from French Guiana, early on Friday. The launch is scheduled at 2:35 am on Friday, when the Ariane-5 rocket would lift off from the European Spaceport in Kourou, France. It will be the 24th Indian satellite to be launched by the Ariane rocket of Arianespace, which is the commercial arm of the European Space Agency (ESA) and India’s long term partner in various satellite launches.
It would be the first Indian satellite to be injected into space this year and would strengthen India’s telecommunication services for the next 15 years. The satellite developed by scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) would replace the ageing INSAT 4A-spacecraft, launched in 2005 which is used by cable operators to broadcast their programmes abroad. GSAT30 would allow them to continue these services over an extended area.
GSAT-30 derives its heritage from ISRO’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series, which has more than a dozen satellites in the space orbit providing communication services over the country for decades.
It will provide continuity to direct-to-home (DTH) services, VSAT networks as well as Digital Satellite News Gathering systems, which allows news reporters to broadcast from remote locations, far off from their TV studios in India in real-time, covering all countries from Europe in the west to Australia in the east.
“The satellite carries a payload of 12 normal C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders. The onboard Ku band beacon transmitters will enable earth stations to point their antennas towards the satellite,” said Isro chairman K. Sivan.
While Ku-band transponders would provide coverage to Indian mainland and islands, the C-band would allow two-way communication and enable television broadcasters to beam their programs over India, Gulf countries, a large number of Asian countries and Australia. Weighing 3357 kgs, the satellite would be placed into the geostationary orbit and would generate around 6 kilowatts of power. According to Isro, the satellite has been specifically designed and optimized to maximize the number of transponders on the spacecraft bus for extended coverage.
