As India moves further with its ambition to become a major player in the space and exploration sector, it has achieved yet another feat by launching its most advanced communications satellite. What makes this liftoff most interesting is that it was launched by Falcon 9 rockets engineered by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The launch took place from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA.
Launch Details and Satellite Capabilities
The indigenously engineered communications satellite by ISRO took off at one minute past midnight on Tuesday. The journey took 34 minutes to reach outer space aboard the Falcon 9 rocket, developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which was apparently its 396th flight. The satellite will provide broadband services in remote areas and in-flight internet services for passenger aircraft as well.
This is the first time an ISRO satellite was launched on a SpaceX rocket through its commercial arm, New Space India Limited (NSIL). Another important fact to note is that this is the first time ISRO has developed a satellite that uses advanced Ka-band frequency only, a range of radio frequency between 27 and 40 gigahertz (GHz). This enables the satellite to carry higher bandwidth.
GSAT N-2 or GSAT 20 Launch from Cape Canaveral
The fully commercial satellite, weighing 4,700 kg, GSAT N-2 or GSAT 20, was launched from Space Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. This launch pad is one of those leased by SpaceX from the United States Space Force. The United States Space Force is a branch of the US military established in 2019 to protect space assets.
Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, speaking during the launch, said, “The mission life of GSAT-20 is 14 years, and the ground infrastructure is ready to serve the satellite.”
Dr. K. Sivan’s Insights on the Launch
In an exclusive conversation with NewsX, Dr. K. Sivan, former ISRO Chairman, shared his insights on the launch and gave a broader perspective on what this launch means for India. Speaking about the launch, Dr. K. Sivan said, “It is going to provide broadband connectivity to unreachable areas as well as internet connectivity.” He also added, “The mass of the satellite is 4.7 tons, which is beyond the capacity of ISRO’s launch vehicle, and that’s why we had gone outside for launch.” Further opening up about the mission and what’s next in its endeavor, he said, “The next step is to take the satellite to the higher orbit, the geostationary orbit.”
Dr. Sivan on Starship and Future Space Exploration
Further in the conversation, he expressed his views on Starship, the massive rocket designed to take people to Mars and the Moon. He said, “Starship is the biggest rocket ever built, and this rocket is meant for taking people to the Moon and Mars. In the first attempt, it could not succeed, but subsequently, they were able to do it. It really is a technical and engineering marvel.”
Falcon 9 Rocket Specs and Performance
The Falcon 9 B-5 rocket, which measured 70 meters in length and weighed about 549 tonnes, was utilized for the launch. This rocket is composed of a two-stage vehicle where stages offer propulsive action sequentially to achieve orbital velocities. It can lift up to 8,300 kg into the geosynchronous transfer orbit and about 22,800 kg to low Earth orbit. The first stage was recovered as the flight reached about 8 minutes into it, marking SpaceX’s 371st recovery.
As soon as the satellite was placed in orbit, India’s Master Control Facility in Hassan, part of ISRO, took over the satellite. Within a few days, this latest Indian satellite will be moved to its final position of 36,000 kilometers above India.
Falcon 9’s Track Record and Launch Costs
So far, Falcon 9 has been involved in 396 launches and had only four setbacks, achieving a remarkable success rate of nearly 99%. It is estimated that a dedicated launch of a Falcon 9 rocket costs an average of $70 million.
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