SpaceX launched its first-ever mission for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday when its Falcon 9 rocket carrying the mammoth communication satellite GSAT-20 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
ISRO's commercial arm New Space India Limited managing director Radhakrishnan Durairaj told NDTV that the launch was successful and the GSAT 20 got a very precise orbit.
The communication satellite weighs over 4,700 kg and ISRO's heavy-lift rocket, the LVM-3, also known as "Bahubali" or "Fat Boy," can only carry satellites weighing up to 4 tonnes into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). This forced ISRO to turn to SpaceX, whose Falcon 9 rocket can handle payloads of up to 8.3 tonnes.
The Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, landing on the SpaceX droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. The rocket's upper stage deployed the satellite in the GRO about 34 minutes after liftoff. The satellite will now make its way to geostationary orbit, which lies 35,786 kilometres above our planet.
The GSAT-20 is equipped with 32 user beams, including eight narrow spot beams and 24 wide spot beams, which will be supported by hub stations located throughout India. The satellite will be instrumental in boosting our communication infrastructure and will aid initiatives like smart cities. It will also provide in-flight internet access.
Also read: ISRO's GSAT-20: Expanding communication horizons with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket
Space expert Girish Linganna told THE WEEK that the satellite is equipped with a cutting-edge Ka-band high-throughput communication system, designed to deliver faster and more efficient data transmission.
"It has a mission life of 14 years and operates using 40 beams to send signals. By leveraging dual polarisation technology, each beam is effectively doubled, resulting in a total of 80 beams. This advanced system is capable of delivering data at an impressive rate of 70 Gbit/s, with an operational high-throughput capacity of around 48 Gbit/s," he added.
This means, that the satellite functions like an ultra-fast internet provider in space, translating to stronger, faster, and more reliable internet connections.
GSAT-20 has an expected operational life of 14 years.
This was also the third launch in less than a day for Space X, owned by Elon Musk. Before the Indian satellite, the Falcon 9 launched a satellite for the Australian telecom company Optus on Sunday evening and lofted a batch of its own Starlink broadband satellites early Monday morning.
(With inputs from Abhinav Singh)