GSAT
20 – SCI & TECH
News:
ISRO’s commercial arm to
launch GSAT-20 satellite on SpaceX’s Falcon-9 in 2024
What's
in the news?
●
New
Space India Ltd (NSIL), the ISRO’s commercial arm
has announced its plans to launch communication satellite GSAT-20 on SpaceX’s
Falcon-9 rocket.
Key
takeaways:
●
The launch is likely to take place in the second quarter of 2024.
●
NSIL was mandated to build, launch, own
and operate satellites in “Demand-driven
mode” for meeting service needs of the user.
●
NSIL successfully undertook its 1st
Demand-driven satellite mission, GSAT-24 during June 2022.
●
This will be India’s first partnership
with a venture led by billionaire Elon Musk to bring his Starlink satellite
broadband to India.
GSAT-20:
●
GSAT-20 (renamed as GSAT-N2) is a high throughput Ka-band satellite.
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GSAT-20 satellite will be fully owned, operated and funded by NSIL.
●
GSAT 20 will be 2nd Demand driven
communication satellite mission of NSIL after GSAT24.
Objective:
●
The satellite has been specifically
designed to meet the demanding service
needs of remote/unconnected regions.
Ka-band
Satellites:
●
GSAT-20 offers Ka-band HTS capacity with
32 beams having pan-India coverage
including in Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands.
●
Ka-band satellites deliver high-speed broadband internet connectivity and digital video
and audio transmission.
●
The Kₐ band is a portion of the microwave part of the electromagnetic
spectrum defined as frequencies in the range 26.5–40gigahertz, i.e.
wavelengths from slightly over 1cm down to 7.5mm.
Launch:
●
GSAT-20 satellite through the ISRO and
will be launched onboard Falcon-9 under a launch service contract between the
NSIL and the SpaceX, USA.
SpaceX’s
Falcon-9 rocket:
●
Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX.
●
It is aimed at reliable and safe transport
of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond.
●
Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital
class reusable rocket which allows SpaceX to re-fly the most expensive parts of
the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access.
Go
back to basics:
NSIL:
●
NSIL is the commercial arm of Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) with the primary responsibility of enabling Indian
industries to take up high technology space related activities.
●
It is also responsible for promotion and commercial exploitation of
the products and services emanating from the Indian space.