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India to launch communication satellite GSAT-12 today!
GSAT-12 on PSLV C17
Tele-education, Tele-medicine and Telephone for Village Resource Centres
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is all set to launch a geo-synchronous communication satellite, GSAT-12, into orbit using the indigenously built launch vehicle, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV, on the 15th of July, 2011 at 4.48 pm from Sriharikota.
The 53-hour countdown for the launch is progressing smoothly.
The 1,140 kg GSAT-12 communication satellite has 12 extended C-band transponders – automatic receivers and transmitters for communication and broadcast of signals.
The satellite is expected to serve the Very Small Aperture Terminal (V-SAT) sector. VSATs are used to transmit data like point of sale transactions or to provide satellite internet access.
It will also be useful for various communication services like tele-education, tele-medicine and for village resource centres.
The satellite will augment transponder capacity of Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system which presently comprises of eight satellites – INSAT-2E, INSAT-3A, INSAT-3C, INSAT-3E, INSAT-4A, INSAT-4B, INSAT-4CR and GSAT-8 providing 175 transponders in the S, C, extend C and Ku bands.
Costing around Rs.90 Crore, the PSLV-C17 rocket standing 44 metre tall and weighing around 320 tonne is a four stage rocket powered by solid and liquid propellants alternatively.
The first and third stages are fired by a solid propellant and the second and fourth stages by a liquid propellant.
The solid fuel stages are cast ready while the liquid propellant will be filled hours before the blast-off.
The rocket to be launched Friday will have 13.5 metre long strap-on motors to carry 12 tonnes of solid fuel than the normal strap-on motors measuring 11.3 metre with 9 tonne fuel capacity.
This will be the second time ISRO will be launching a rocket with this specification. The earlier one was for the Chandrayaan moon mission.
This will also be only the second time ISRO will be using a PSLV rocket for launching a satellite to be finally placed in geostationary orbit. The first satellite was Kalpana-1 (originally named as Metsat), a meteorological satellite launched in 2002.
The GSAT-12 satellite will be co-located with Inst-2E and Insat-4A satellites and will have a life of eight years.
On this auspicious Guru Purnima, let’s wish ISRO, and the entire team for a successful launch of GSAT-12 and to begin a new era in space science for societal development.
GUJARAT SCIENCE CITY
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