An unprecedented row of five national communication spacecraft are slated to be put in space this year with hopes of vastly cutting the gap in satellite capacity for different users.
The first of them, GSAT-9 or the South Asia Satellite, will kick off the serial launches in the first half of April from the Sriharikota space port. According to officials, they are yet to set a date for it.
A.S. Kiran Kumar, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), recently told The Hindu , “This year we are launching five more communication satellites. With all of them coming up, there will definitely be a drastic, perceptible change in satellite capacity. In a matter of one year, the scene should be much better than now.”
Mr. Kumar also said ISRO has been taking various actions consciously towards improving its overall communication transponder capacity; this space infrastructure supports broadcasters, telephone, Internet service and other businesses.
New satellites that are constantly put up for approval could ease up the scene further in the next two or three years, he said.
The five communication satellites are in addition to five advanced Earth observation spacecraft that are planned this year and in 2018 — Cartosat-2 series satellite 3, Cartosat-3, GISAT-1, RISAT-1A which will replace RISAT-1, and Oceansat-3. The ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru assembles the spacecraft.
For several years now, the space agency has been beset with a capacity deficit, caused by launch failures in which satellites were destroyed, and a galloping demand from public and private sector users.
The agency says its communication fleet of 14 provides 200-odd transponder equivalents. Another 95-odd transponders have been hired on foreign satellites to support Indian direct-to-home broadcasters, and the agency aims to bring them back to its satellites.
Referring to last year’s success and regularisation of the GSLV Mark II rocket programme — which can put up to 2,000-kg satellites in space — Mr. Kumar said: “We have overcome some of the issues of launch vehicles, now we need to produce and make more use of them, and put more satellites in orbit.” GSAT-9 will ride on one such indigenous GSLV.
Five communication spacecraft spread over less than a year is historic and a rarity for ISRO; all these years, it has launched one or two communication satellites a year. GSAT-18 was the lone communication satellite sent up in late 2016.
Tentatively, ISRO has lined up the Internet user-friendly GSAT-19 for launch around May; GSAT-17 around June; GSAT-6A, which like GSAT-6 is for the defence forces, in September; and its largest 5,000-plus GSAT-11 around December. GSAT-17 and GSAT-11 will be launched on the European Ariane launcher.
Ever since INSAT-4CR was moved to a new orbital slot a few months back, its efficiency has improved and a little extra capacity has been created for select use, the ISRO chairman said.
