BENGALURU: Rural India will soon have better broadband capability as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch its geosynchronous satellite GSAT-20 later this year. This satellite can transfer data at the rate of 114 gigabits per second, former ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar told TNIE on the sidelines of the valedictory function of the Indian Social Science Congress at Bengaluru Central University on Tuesday. Kiran said that GSAT 11, which has a life of about 15 years, has a capacity of just
14 gigabits.
“The entire country has been covered in a large number of beams and each beam services a particular region. The new satellite will have almost 30 beams covering the country and will provide 100 gigabits of broadband capability across various panchayats,” said the former ISRO chairman. The spacecraft will be launched onboard the GSLV Mk-III, one of the largest launchers of the space agency.
The launch of this satellite was originally planned at the end of 2018. Addressing the gathering, Kumar said that the state and central government uses geo-spatial technology for monitoring and planning activities. “In this manner, any new capability can be developed so that it can effectively tackle society’s problems. True to our heritage of knowledge, the skills we acquire should not be used only for the benefit of individuals, but for the society and also for the benefit of our neighbouring countries,” he said.
Meanwhile, as ISRO is still in conversation with China for enabling its NaviC capability through Xiaomi, the space agency has contacted San Diego-based chipmaker Qualcomm. ISRO is said to have provided “consultation” to Qualcomm to enable NavIC capabilities Snapdragon mobile chipsets. NaviC, which is an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, is said to have capabilities that can compete with America’s GPS or Europe’s Galileo.