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South Asia Satellite

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South Asia Satellite
Mission typeCommunication / Meteorology[1]
OperatorISRO
COSPAR ID2017-024A[2]
SATCAT no.42695Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration12 years (planned)
Spacecraft properties
BusI-2K[2]
ManufacturerISRO Satellite Centre
Space Applications Centre
Launch mass2,230 kg (4,920 lb)[2]
Power2.3 kW
Start of mission
Launch date5 May 2017[3]
RocketGSLV Mk.II
Launch siteSatish Dhawan SLP
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeGeostationary
Longitude48° East[4]
Transponders
Band12 Ku band
Coverage areaSAARC

The South Asia Satellite, also known as GSAT-9, is a geostationary [5]communications and meteorology satellite operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region.[1] The satellite was launched on the 5th May, 2017. During the 18th SAARC summit held in Nepal in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi mooted the idea of a satellite serving the needs of SAARC member nations[6][7] as a part of his Neighbourhood first policy.[8] Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka are the users of the multi-dimensional facilities provided by the satellite.

Pakistan initially gave a "cold response" to the project but later offered "monetary and technical support". India rejected Pakistani offers, saying that it wanted the project to be a "gift" and multi-national collaboration would be time consuming.[9] As a result, Pakistan declined to participate in the project.[10] Afghanistan was initially non-committal to the satellite.[11]

The South Asia Satellite provides crucial information on tele-medicine, tele-education, banking and television broadcasting opportunities. It is also equipped with remote sensing state of the art technology which enables collection of real-time weather data and helps in observations of the geology of the South Asian nations.[12]

Background

During the Indian general elections campaign in 2014, Prime Minister Modi hinted that his foreign policy will actively focus on improving ties with India's immediate neighbours which is being termed as Neighbourhood first policy in the Indian media.[13][14] Modi invited all heads of state/heads of government of SAARC countries during his swearing-in ceremony as Prime Minister of India and held bilateral talks with all of them individually, which was dubbed a "mini SAARC summit" by the media.[15] India has an active space programme dating back to 1965, and in 1975, became the first South Asian nation to launch a satellite.[16] Furthermore, India is the only nation in South Asia to have successfully launched and operate satellites in space while other South Asian nations have struggled and lacked in such progress.[16]

One month after sworn in as Prime Minister of India, in June 2014 Modi asked ISRO to develop a SAARC satellite, which can be dedicated as a ‘gift’ to the neighbours. He asked the scientists to work on a satellite that would provide a full range of applications and services to all of India’s neighbours.[17][18] Modi said, "There is a lot of poverty in the SAARC nations and we need scientific solutions for this".[7]

In his address to the Sri Lankan Parliament in March 2015, Narendra Modi said "Sri Lanka will take full benefit of India's satellite for the SAARC Region. This should be in Space by December 2016".[17]

Response from SAARC nations

The announcement of the satellite was generally met with favourable views by the SAARC nations that supported the program, specifically from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.[19]

Pakistan

Pakistan initially declared that it was "keen" to participate on the project. However, Pakistan said it did not because "India was not willing to develop the project on a collaborative basis."[10] India rejected Pakistani offers of technical and monetary help because it wanted the project to be an Indian "gift" and did not want to make it into a "SAARC project", and that collaborations with Pakistan would have taken some time.[9]

Pakistan maintains its own active space programme under its Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO).[16][19][9] India is the only country in the SAARC that has the capability to launch and operate satellites in space. In a separate meeting with Indian Space Research Organisation officials, SUPARCO officials proposed a joint monetary and technical venture with the development of the satellite; the Indian government declined the offer as they insisted that the project is a gift from India to its SAARC neighbours.[9] On 27 June 2015, ISRO chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar announced that India and Pakistan will collaborate on developing the SAARC satellite with SUPARCO performing technical engineering under ISRO's guidance.[20]

During the 70th UN meeting in New York City held on 20 September 2015, officials from India and Pakistan debated over the ownership and control of the satellite.[21] On 2 October 2015, India announced that it has decided that India can go ahead with building the satellite, without Pakistan's consent.[21] On 23 March 2016, Vikas Swarup, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India said "Pakistan has decided to opt-out of the satellite project. So it cannot be called a SAARC satellite. It will be a South Asia satellite".[22]

There were some reports that Pakistan had security concerns, especially regarding espionage.[23] However, the Pakistani foreign ministry has said these reports are "unfounded".[10]

Bangladesh

On 23 March 2017, Bangladesh signed the South Asia Satellite agreement with India. The agreement formally known as "Agreement between the Government of Republic of India and the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh concerning to orbit frequency co-ordination of 'South Asia Satellite' proposed at 48.E" would cover 12 transponders of the satellite from which, 1 will be gifted to Bangladesh.[24][25]

Development

In November 2015, ISRO chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar stated that the satellite could be launched within 18 months of receiving approval from the SAARC member nations.[12][26] It was proposed to build a satellite for the SAARC region with 12 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz each)[24] and launch it with the Indian Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV Mk-II. The cost of the satellite was estimated to be about ₹235 crore (equivalent to ₹330 crore or US$39 million in 2023), and the total cost including operational costs and insurance comes to ₹450 crore (equivalent to ₹631 crore or US$76 million in 2023).[27] The cost associated with the launch was met by the Government of India.

The satellite will enable a full range of applications and services in the areas of telecommunication and broadcasting applications viz television (TV), direct-to-home (DTH), very small aperture terminals (VSATs), tele-education, tele-medicine and disaster management support. It will provide communication channels for better coordination during disaster management, and will help countries in mapping terrain and natural resources. [28][29]

Satellite and payloads

GSAT-9 carries 12 Ku band transponders; each participating South Asian Country has access to a dedicated transponder for their communications.[2] In addition, the spacecraft carries a GPS-augmentation GAGAN payload, built at Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad. It will will provide enhanced GPS services to the security forces and air traffic control organizations, covering all of India including Andaman and Nicobar Islands.[citation needed]

The standalone satellite has a liftoff mass of about 2,230 kg.[2] GSAT-9 is the first Indian satellite to use electric propulsion albeit partially. It carries only 25% of the normal chemical fuel package compared to other Indian satellites, a xenon based electric propulsion system is used for orbital functions of the spacecraft. GSAT-20 is expected to be the first fully electric propulsion system enabled satellite.[30][31]

Launch

The satellite was launched on May 5, 2017 at 4:57pm IST (11:27 UTC) by GSLV flight F09, from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) of the Satish Dhawan spaceport in Sriharikota, in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh.[32]

Reactions

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena congratulated Modi using satellite technology and claimed that it would help uplift standards of people.[33]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Isro-Saarc satellite to be a communication vehicle". Deccan Herald. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Satellite Details GSAT-9". SatBeams. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  3. ^ "India to launch GSAT-9 communication satellite on May 5: ISRO". Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  4. ^ "GSAT-9". Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  5. ^ "GSAT-9 - ISRO". www.isro.gov.in. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Isro Says Saarc Satellite Configuration Will Be Finalised Soon". NDTV1. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  7. ^ a b "'Space diplomacy' in South Asia". BBC. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  8. ^ "India's SAARC satellite proposal: a boost to a multilateral space agenda". The Space Review. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d Press Trust of India (1 July 2015). "India rejects Pakistan's help in SAARC satellite project". Times of India, 2015. Times of India. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  10. ^ a b c "India launches satellite for South Asian countries, Pakistan says no thanks".
  11. ^ After Pakistan, Afghanistan shows no interest in PM Narendra Modi's satellite project, Economic Times
  12. ^ a b "SAARC Satellite Likely to be Launched Next Year, Pakistan Agrees to Participate". NDTV. 23 June 2015.
  13. ^ "Narendra Modi's push for strong relations with neighbours". The Economic Times. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  14. ^ "India, Modi and the neighbourhood". Gateway House. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  15. ^ "The mini SAARC summit". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 1 June 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  16. ^ a b c News correspondant (20 August 2015). "India's satellite 'gift' for SAARC to be up in Dec 2016". Bsuiness Standard , Chennai. Bsuiness Standard. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  17. ^ a b "India's satellite 'gift' for SAARC to be up in Dec 2016". Business Standard. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  18. ^ "Modi asks Indian space scientists to develop Saarc satellite". The Times of India. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  19. ^ a b Press Trust of India (7 June 2015). "Pakistan cool to SAARC satellite project". The Hindu, business line. The Hindu. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  20. ^ CNN-IBN news reporters (27 June 2015). "India, Pakistan will collaborate on developing SAARC satellite under ISRO's guidance, says AS Kiran Kumar". CNN-IBN. CNN-IBN. Retrieved 11 November 2015. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  21. ^ a b "India and Pakistan spar over Modi satellite, disaster management in New York". ABP live. ABP live. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  22. ^ "SAARC satellite project: Pakistan decides to opts out, says AS Vikas Swarup". The Indian Express. The Indian Express. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  23. ^ Chaudhury,, By Dipanjan Roy (26 June 2015). "Pakistan raises security issues to oppose SAARC satellite project". The Economic Times, Science. The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 November 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  24. ^ a b "Bangladesh joins Indias South Asia Satellite program". Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  25. ^ সংবাদদাতা, নিজস্ব. "ঢাকায় দক্ষিণ এশিয়া উপগ্রহ চুক্তি সই করল ভারত, বাংলাদেশ". anandabazar.com. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  26. ^ "Astrosat to provide opportunities to analyse celestial bodies: ISRO". The Indian Express. 18 November 2015.
  27. ^ "What is South Asia Satellite: India's ₹235-crore gift to neighbours". The Indian Express. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  28. ^ "'Made in India' South-Asia satellite launched successfully". NewsBytes. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  29. ^ "India's 'priceless gift' South Asia Satellite to be launched on May 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi". The Indian Express. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference newsexpress was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ D.S., Madhumathi. "GSAT-9 heralds cost-saving electric propulsion". The Hindu.
  32. ^ "Official Press Release: GSLV Successfully Launches South Asia Satellite". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  33. ^ "MS congratulates Modi". Retrieved 6 May 2017.
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