Latest satellite launch to rocket India to elite space club
Sriharikota (Andhra Prade : Come mid-July, India will join the elite space club of a handful countries when it launches into space a satellite for the first time from an indigenous launch vehicle on its own soil.
The launch of the INSAT (Indian National Satellite)-4C satellite from the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV Mark-II) at the second launch pad in this space port on the Andhra coast will also "pitchfork India into the global launch vehicle market".
"The proposed launch will be path-breaking in the Indian space saga, as an indigenously built vehicle will be deploying the native satellite, carrying 12 Ku band transponders in the geo-stationary orbit, about 36,000 km from earth," Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) director M. Annamalai told IANS at a preview of the launch preparedness here.
With the launch of INSAT-4C, India will be the sixth country to have the capability and domain expertise to design, develop and build its own launch vehicles and satellites for deployment in the geosynchronous and polar orbits.
"The other five countries in the elite space club are the US, Russia, Japan, China and the European Space Agency (ESA). Though China is advanced in the launch vehicles and is counted among the big five, it is yet to catch up with India in building communication and remote sensing satellites, in terms of size (weight) and applications (multiple).
"The GSLV (Mark I to the upcoming Mark III) will pitchfork India into the global launch vehicle market to deploy any spacecraft of other countries at 30-35 percent cheaper than Ariane (of Paris-based Ariane Space) or other space launch vehicle agencies the world over," Annamalai stated.
For the launch of the 2,180-kg satellite, the first one in the INSAT series from the Indian soil, about 1,000 space scientists are working feverishly in stacking up the 410-tonne GSLV Mark-II at the second launch pad, built at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
"We have scheduled the launch for mid-July. Barring unforeseen developments and weather permitting, we propose to keep the launch window open from July 10. The satellite, designed and fabricated at our satellite centre in Bangalore, is being integrated into the GSLV."
"With the commissioning of the Rs.3.5-billion ($75 million) second launch pad at Shar (Sriharikota), India is the only country to have such a state-of-the-art facility to launch different types of vehicles ranging from PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle), GSLV Mark-1, GSLV Mark-II to the upcoming GSLV Mark-III in the four-tonne class," a top ISRO official said.
While ISRO has been using the Ariane launch vehicle for launching its INSAT series of satellites over the years, including INSAT-4A in December last year, the Indian space agency will make a historic departure to put its own satellite in the geosynchronous orbit hereafter from its own soil.
The launch of INSAT-4C is being taken up in the backdrop of the success ISRO had in the launch of its first experimental satellite (GSAT-1) using the GSLV in April 2001, GSAT-2 by GSLV-D2 in May 2003 and Edusat (educational satellite) by GSLV-F01 in September 2004.
Though Ariane had launched INSAT-4A on Dec 22, 2005, and has been contracted to launch INSAT-4B during February-March 2007 from Kourou in French Guyana to carry 24 transponders (12 Ku and 12 C band), the remaining four satellites in the INSAT-4 series will be launched from Shar using GSLV Mark II and III.
The heaviest and powerful satellites in the INSAT-4 series will be used extensively for communication and broadcasting services, especially beaming direct-to-home (DTH) live telecast. As in the case of INSAT-4A, the upcoming INSAT-4C has already been booked for DTH by Sun Network, National Informatics Centre (NIC.Net) and VSAT (very small aperture terminals) operators.
"Once we demonstrate our capabilities by launching a series of two-to-four-tonne satellites into the geo-synchronous orbit, we will be able to compete with any other in the space club to launch satellites of others, including private agencies cost-effectively. We can also build satellites economically with transponders customised to their requirements," Annamalai pointed out.
"Post-launch of INSAT-4C next month and INSAT-4B (with 12 Ku and 12 C band) transponders by early March, we will have around 211 transponders up in the sky for optimal utilisation of space resources cost-effectively," the official said.
The launch of INSAT-4C from the Indian soil will enable ISRO to save about Rs.1.5 billion, spent for an Ariane launch and logistic charges incurred for ferrying the satellite to Kourou.
As one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems in the Asia-Pacific region, INSAT series currently has nine satellites in operation, including Kalpana-1 for meteorology and Edusat for remote and distance learning.
The INSAT system connects about 40,000 VSATs and about 700 telecom terminals across the sub-continent. Besides this, the seven remote sensing satellites (IRS) in the polar orbit form the world's largest constellation of such spacecraft.
