GSAT-29 communication satellite reaches final Geo Stationary orbit

India on Saturday positioned into orbit the country’s latest communication satellite, GSAT-29, that will help provide communication services in remote places in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir, marking an important milestone in the country’s space mission.

The final orbit raising operation of GSAT-29 was successfully carried out on Saturday by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor engine for 207 seconds. The satellite is in its final Geo Stationary orbit now. Both solar arrays and reflectors have been deployed, said Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) sources.

Isro's heaviest rocket — Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) — launched the satellite on Wednesday after blasting off from Sriharikota in Andhdra Pradesh.

GSLV-Mk III’s success proves Isro's ability to carry heavy satellites and boosts the space agency’s confidence at a time it’s focused on two crucial programmes — Chandrayaan-2 and Human Space Programme. On Thursday and Friday, Isro conducted the first and second orbit raisings of GSAT-29 — manoeuvres to put the satellite in its targeted area in space.

GSAT-29 is a multi-beam, multi-band communication satellite that weighs 3423 kg and carries Ka/Ku-band high throughput communication transponders.The spacecraft will be located at 55 degrees east longitude and designed for a mission life of 10 years. The satellite will improve communication in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir to facilitate execution of Digital India initiatives, said Isro Chairman K Sivan. It has technologies like Q/V-band payload and data transmission through optical communication link would also be demonstrated helping realise future advanced satellites, Sivan added.

The Q/V-band payload, data transmission through optical communication link would be used for satellite to satellite communication, said D K Das, Director, Space Applications Centre, Isro.

The satellite carries a 55metre geo-high resolution camera that would be fixed in the weather satellites, once it starts functioning, Sivan said.

The satellite will improve communication in Northeast and J&K to facilitate execution of Digital India initiative