ISRO to launch South Asia Satellite on 5 May

The nearly 50-m-tall rocket that weighs about 400 tonnes will carry what is now dubbed as the ‘South Asia Satellite’ or what the Indian Space Research Organisation still prefers to call GSAT-9.
The 2230-kg satellite has been fabricated in three years and is purely a communications satellite costing Rs. 235 crore.
The uniqueness of this satellite is that it will have a footprint that extends all over South Asia and India is gifting it to its neighbours who according to India’s assessment could be helped in better utilising these space-based technologies.
The South Asia Satellite has 12 Ku band transponders which India’s neighbours can utilise to increase communications. Each country will get access to at least one transponder through which they could beam their own programming and there could be common ‘South Asian programing’ as well.
Each country has to develop its own ground infrastructure though India is willing to extend assistance and know-how.
According to the government, the satellite will “enable a full range of applications and services to our neighbours in the areas of telecommunication and broadcasting applications viz. television, direct-to-home (DTH), very small aperture terminals (VSATs), tele-education, tele-medicine and disaster management support“.
The satellite also has the capability to provide secure hot lines among the participating nations in addition since the region is highly prone to earthquakes, cyclones, floods, tsunamis, it may help in providing critical communication links in times of disasters.
Barring Pakistan, which has fully opted out, the seven other SAARC nations are already on-board with Afghanistan still to ink the deal with some minor technical details still to be fixed in Kabul.
Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have agreed to be part of this mission, confirms External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay.
Among India’s neighbours, three nations already possess full-fledged communication satellites with Pakistan and Sri Lanka having been helped by China; Afghanistan also has a communication satellite actually an old India-made satellite acquired from Europe.
Bangladesh is likely to have its first satellite later this year. Essentially, Bhutan and Maldives may benefit in the long run. Incidentally, Nepal has already floated a tender to acquire two communications satellites.

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