Bengaluru: India will launch its latest communication satellite, the GSAT-7A, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on December 19. It will fly onboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), in its Mk II configuration. The mission designation is F11, and will be the rocket’s 13th flight.
The ‘F’ prefix stands for an operational flight, as opposed to the developmental flights denoted with a ‘D’.
The GSAT-7A weighs 2,250 kg. It is India’s 35th communications satellite to be built by ISRO. It is configured on ISRO’s standard I-2000 kg, a.k.a. the I-2K, bus, according to the space agency.
The satellite has a mission life of eight years, and will provide communications capability to Ku-band users over the Indian region.
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The GSLV Mk II rocket will inject the GSAT-7A into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The satellite will then propel itself, using onboard controls and thrusters, into a geostationary orbit. The time from start – when the satellite separates from the rocket – is expected to be a few days.
GSLV Mk II is ISRO’s fourth generation launch vehicle and has three stages. The first stage is composed of four liquid strap-on boosters and a solid-fuel rocket motor. The second stage is equipped with a high-thrust engine that combusts liquid fuel.
The third stage is more famously known as the cryogenic upper stage, and is powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine that combusts liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen.