New satellite to give Armed forces a boost
GSAT-6A to aid communication in the remote corners of India
The country’s most powerful, indigenously made communications satellite, the G-SAT 6A, was successfully launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday by scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
The Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle, (GSLV)-F08 injected the GSAT-6A, India’s heaviest communication satellite, into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) with textbook precision.
Isro has achieved multiple objectives with the current launch: providing advance mobile communication, boosting communication of the armed forces, and increasing the payload capacity of the GSLV MkIII vehicle to three tonnes.
After travelling for 17.46 minutes into space, GSAT6A was placed in the GTO from where it would be taken up to its final geostationary orbit by three orbit raising manoeuvres. GSAT-6A is a high power communication satellite similar to GSAT-6, launched three years ago, with a lift-off mass of 2,140 kg.
These two satellites will combine to provide a platform for development of advanced technologies in point to point satellite communication throughout India, according to Dr Sivan, chairman of Isro. Incidentally, this was Dr Sivan’s first mission after taking over as Isro chairman in January this year.
The 2,066-kg satellite, which cost around `270 crore, will be able to send and receive signals from handheld devices. This will be particularly useful for security forces stationed in remote corners of the country. This will be enabled by a unique feature of the GSAT-6A - its 20-ft diameter antenna, which will unfurl once the satellite reaches its designated orbit. The antenna is thrice as broad as the antennas generally used in Isro satellites and is powerful enough to allow two-way communication of data from remote parts of the country through hand-held devices.
The 49.1-metre-long 414.6 tonne GSLV took off majestically as per schedule at 4.56 pm from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Shar, Sriharikota located in SPSR Nellore district.
UNIQUE FEATURES Special
feature is its antenna. Former ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar says that it has one of the largest antennas built by ISRO.
6 METERS
in diameter, the antenna will open up like an umbrella once the satellite is in orbit.
THE ANTENNA
will ensure that small hand held devices will be able to transmit data efficiently.
THE GEOSYNCHRONOUS
Launch Vehicle of ISRO is a three-stage launch vehicle system designed to launch 2-ton class satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
THE FIRST STAGE
of the launch vehicle consists of solid core with four liquid strap-on motors, the second stage is a liquid stage and the upper stage uses cryogenic propulsion.
THE CRYOGENIC UPPER
Stage of GSLV carries cryogenic propellants namely Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen in two separate tanks. 400 SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS HELPED LAUNCH THE GSLV ROCKET THAT IS SAID TO GIVE A BIG BOOST TO COMMUNICATION ESPECIALLY FOR THE ARMED FORCED.
The launch
took place from Sriharikota's Satish Dhawan Space Center, located on the coast near Chennai.
The communications
satellite has been called the “Naughty Boy” by the scientists.
The engine
is called Vikas engine after Vikram Sarabhai, dubbed as the father of India’s space programme. It can also be used for the Chandrayaan-2 mission.