GSAT-7: India's first military satellite launched successfully

Bangalore: India's first exclusive defence satellite, the GSAT-7, was successfully launched by European space consortium Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, giving a major push to the country's maritime security.The Indian Navy would be the user of the multi-band home-built communication spacecraft, expected to be operational by September end.The Rs 185-crore GSAT-7, the country's maiden dedicated spacecraft for defence applications, was launched during a 50-minute launch window that started at 2 am on Friday.After a flight of almost 34 minutes, the satellite was injected into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respectto the equator.[caption id="attachment_1071725" align="alignleft" width="380"] The GSAT-7was launched successfully. Image courtesy: ISRO[/caption]Between August 3 and September 4, three orbit-raising operations will be performed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to place the satellite into a geostationary orbit of 36,000 km above the equator.By September 14, GSAT-7 is planned to be positioned in its orbital slot of 74 deg East longitude and subsequently the satellite's communication transponders will be switched on.The frequency bands of GSAT-7 will help space-based marine communications. It has coverage over India's land mass as well as over the surrounding seas."It's important from security and surveillance points of view," an ISRO official said.According to a senior space scientist, so far the Navy had limitations from line of sight and ionospheric effects, among others, as far as space-based communications were concerned. It was thought essential to have an integrated platform for the Navy's exclusive use.Earlier, satellite communication in ships was through Inmarsat, a major provider of global mobile satellite communications services.According to ISRO, GSAT-7 is an advanced communication satellite to provide a wide service spectrum from low bit rate voice to high bit rate data communication. Itspayload is designed to provide communication capabilities to users over a wide oceanic region including the Indian land-mass.The launch cost for ISRO wass around Rs 470 crore, including insurance.PTI