Why will Elon Musk's SpaceX launch India's GSAT-N2 satellite instead of ISRO?
ISRO is constrained by availability of other launch vehicles and operational limitations to launch heavy payloads.
Elon Musk-owned SpaceX will launch India's communication satellite GSAT-N2 from Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday. The event marks the first of many commercial collaborations between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and SpaceX and the first after Musk's favourite, Donald Trump, was re-elected as the 47th President of the United States.
What is GSAT-N2?
GSAT-N2 is a communication satellite jointly developed by ISRO's Satellite Centre and Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. It will continue the GSAT series of communication satellites and add data transmission capacity to the communication infrastructure required for India's Smart Cities Mission.
With 48 Gbps data transmission capacity, this high-throughput satellite will also enhance broadband services and in-flight connectivity nationwide. Using multiple spot beams, GSAT-N2 will improve the efficiency and coverage of broadband services in different regions of India.
According to ISRO," The satellite is equipped with 32 user beams, comprising 8 narrow spot beams over the Northeast region and 24 wide spot beams over the rest of India. These 32 beams will be supported by hub stations located within mainland India. The Ka-Band HTS communication payload provides a throughput of approximately 48 Gbps.”
Read more: After space success, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council to back all ISRO projects
Why ISRO chose SpaceX to launch GSAT-20?
ISRO has relied on Arianespace's Ariane rockets to launch its heavy payload rockets from French Guyana. However, the agency currently lacks operational rockets to launch a massive payload of 4,700 kg.
India's launch vehicle, LVM-3, can carry payloads up to 4,000 kg, and the current launch requirement exceeds ISRO's capacity. Hence, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was chosen to launch the satellite.
What is the Falcon 9 rocket?
It is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. According to SpaceX, “Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket. Reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access”.
