Written by Johnson T A |Bengaluru |Updated: December 20, 2018 6:50:46 am
Why ISRO’s latest launch carries weight
At 2,250 kg, GSAT-7A is the heaviest satellite launched by GSLV-Mk-II since it began using the indigenous cryogenic engine after carrying out early development flights with Russian cryogenic engines.
Given its recent track record in launching satellites on its fourth-generation rockets, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLV), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was continuing a trend Wednesday when GSLV-F11 launched a communication satellite, GSAT-7A.
Heavier and heavier
The standout factor with Wednesday’s launch and 12 other successful flights carried out so far by ISRO’s GSLV-Mk-II rocket —including six successive flights since 2014 with an indigenous cryogenic fuel upper stage — is that the rocket was pushing the limits of its capabilities in launching satellites of the two-tonne class for the seventh time. At 2,250 kg, GSAT-7A is the heaviest satellite launched by GSLV-Mk-II since it began using the indigenous cryogenic engine after carrying out early development flights with Russian cryogenic engines. “The cryogenic stage of this vehicle has been modified to increase the thrust rate,’’ ISRO chairman K Sivan said after the copybook launch.
GSAT-7A is an advanced communication satellite with a Gregorian Antenna and other new technologies, the ISRO chairman said. The satellite operating in the Ku band will service communication needs for network-centric operations of the IAF and the military.
“GSAT-7A is the 39th Indian communication satellite of ISRO to provide services to users in Ku-band over the Indian region. Most of the functional requirements of the communication payloads and the other systems have been derived from ISRO’s earlier geostationary INSAT/GSAT satellites,” ISRO said. GSAT-7A was built on a standard 2,000-kg satellite bus used over the years by ISRO.
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