For the first time, India relies on powerful Western rockets to carry its satellites into orbit
Indian space agency ISRO is set to launch its major communications satellite using a SpaceX rocket. This is the first time India will use the Falcon-9 heavy rocket, which will be launched from Florida.
ISRO and India's Department of Space Research are relying on SpaceX to launch their next-generation communications satellite GSAT-20. The deal also highlights ISRO's weaknesses as it still lacks a rocket capable of launching large communications satellites into space. ISRO Chairman S Somanath says choosing SpaceX became a necessity as the other rocket was not ready on time.
ISRO's commercial arm, New Space India Limited (NSIL), has awarded a contract to SpaceX to launch GSAT-20 in the second quarter of this year. This is a significant change for India, which previously relied on the French-European consortium Arianespace to launch its heavy satellites. India's own rockets currently do not have sufficient payload capacity to launch large satellites into geostationary orbit.
The GSAT-20 satellite, which will be renamed GSAT-N2, has a high capacity, will provide coverage across India, including remote regions and islands, and weighs about 4,700 kg. It is designed to meet the connectivity needs of remote and unconnected regions. According to NSIL, GSAT-20 is equipped with HTS capacity of about 48 Gbps. NSIL does not disclose information about the buyer of the new satellite's bandwidth.
Despite reliable partners like Arianespace, with whom India has collaborated in the past and launched 23 of its satellites on their rockets, NSIL Director, Dr. Radhakrishnan Durairaj says India is moving with the times by looking at other commercial opportunities. Arianespace has retired its most reliable rocket, the Ariane-5, and its replacement, the Ariane-6, has been continually delayed.
GSAT-20, which will communicate and offer broadband Internet access, will compete with OneWeb and Starlink, which may soon be licensed to provide their services.
India's most powerful rocket today, Bahuballi («Bahubally») or Mark 3, can only lift satellites weighing up to 4000 kilograms into geostationary orbit. The ISRO Chairman stressed the need to develop a heavier next-generation rocket, NGLV, which will be capable of lifting up to 10,000 kilograms into the same orbit. Development of the new rocket has already begun under the leadership of ISRO and will take several years.