BENGALURU: The 35th communication satellite of India, GSAT-7A, is all set to be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota on December 19. This will be the second launch of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in December, after the controversial GSAT-11 - the heaviest satellite by ISRO which was launched earlier this month on December 5. With this, ISRO appears to be on course to meet its ambitious target of launching two satellites a month after a hiccup.
Launch at Sriharikota
GSAT-7A will be launched aboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) - F11 from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The satellite, which weighs a total of 2,250 kgs, was built by ISRO and is aimed at providing communication capabilities to various users over the Indian subcontinent. Though ISRO chairman R Sivan, earlier this year, had projected the launch date for GSAT-7A in November, it is now being launched in the month of December.
It can be noted that Sivan, in August this year, had announced that the frequency of launches by ISRO will be increased adding that two satellites will be launched every month from September onwards. But, the ambitious target was not met in the first two months following the announcement - September and October - as only one satellite (PSLV C42) was launched during the month by ISRO.
Subsequently, ISRO had picked pace with its launches and is expected to complete two launches in a month in a row with the launch of GSAT-7A communication satellite. While ISRO had launched GSAT-29 and a hyper-spectral imaging satellite in November, India’s highest communication satellite GSAT-11 was launched earlier this month on December 5.ISRO sources said that dependent on weather conditions GSAT-7A will be launched to orbit on December 19. This will be the eight launch of ISRO this year.