ISRO will launch a 4400 kg communication satellite on Sunday using the LVM3 rocket. This is the heaviest satellite to be launched from Indian soil into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Previously, ISRO sent a 3900 kg payload into GTO during the Chandrayaan-3 mission. The GTO (29,970 km x 170 km) is an elliptical orbit. Once the rocket releases the satellite into this orbit, after 3-4 days, the satellite will fire its engine and make the orbit circular. This is called Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO). In this, the satellite can provide 24-hour coverage. Three pictures related to the mission… 5 big things related to the mission… ISRO has launched a 5,854 kg satellite from foreign soil ISRO usually prefers to launch heavy communication satellites from the European spaceport in French Guiana. This is the first time it will launch a satellite weighing about 4.4 tons from Indian soil. ISRO had previously launched GSAT-11 from French Guiana on December 5, 2018, with the help of an Ariane-5 rocket, weighing 5,854 kg. This is ISRO’s heaviest satellite to date. ISRO has sent a 5,800 kg payload to Low Earth Orbit The record for the heaviest payload sent to Low Earth Orbit by an LVM3 rocket is associated with the OneWeb mission. In this mission, a 5,800 kg payload was sent to an orbit approximately 450 kilometers above Earth. This was a group of 36 small satellites, not a single one. Thus, the 4400 kg communication satellite being sent today sets a new record for a single communication satellite. When US aid was not received in the Kargil War, India built its own satellite network In 1999, Pakistani infiltrators were hidden on the high peaks of Kargil. The Indian Army desperately needed GPS, i.e., Global Positioning System, to track precise locations and troop movements. India sought help from the US, but they refused. Reason? They stood with Pakistan and did not want to give sensitive military data to India. This shock was so big that after Kargil ended, India started working on two fronts. 1. A precise navigation system like GPS India already had INSAT series communication satellites, which were providing some help in voice calls, data transmission, and situational awareness. But there was no precise navigation system like GPS. Due to communication gaps between the Army and Air Force, many challenges arose. The result? In 2006, the IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) project was launched, which is today called NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation). This is a group of 7 satellites, which provides super-accurate location in India and the surrounding 1500 km area. 2. Rapid Development of GSAT Series for Communication This is a series of indigenous communication satellites, which are placed in Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO). They are used for digital TV, internet, voice calls, data transmission, and broadcasting. The first GSAT satellite was launched on April 18, 2001, after the Kargil War. The exclusive use of the GSAT satellite series for defense began in 2013, when GSAT-7 (Rukmini) was launched. This was the first satellite entirely dedicated to military use (especially for the navy), connecting ships, submarines, and command centers in the Indian Ocean. But now it is getting old, and this is where CMS-03 (GSAT-7R) comes in. This satellite is providing the Navy with an ‘upgraded Rukmini’. This 4410 kg satellite will provide multi-band communication. Meaning, real-time video, data, and strategic control, especially on the high seas. If this had been available in a war like Kargil, the Navy’s network-centric warfare would have been many times stronger, despite GPS denial. GSAT-7A was also launched for the Air Force in 2018.
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