<p>Bengaluru: NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is preparing for its second demand-driven satellite mission with GSAT-N2, a Ka-band high throughput communication satellite that is set to enhance broadband services and in-flight connectivity across the Indian region.</p><p>The mission by NSIL, the commercial arm of ISRO, is aimed at supporting a large subscriber base with small user terminals and designed to meet the service needs of remote regions. GSAT-N2 (originally named GSAT-20) has a lift-off mass of 4,700 kg and a mission life of 14 years. It comes with 32 spot beams – satellite signals transmitting to specific geographic areas – of which eight are narrow beams over the northeast region and 24 are wide beams covering the rest of India.</p><p>These 32 beams, generated by three 2.5-metre deployable reflectors in the payload, will be supported by hub stations that are located within mainland India. The Ka-band communication payload provides a throughput of approximately 48 Gbps. The satellite is compatible with all major launch vehicles.</p><p>Each Ka-band antenna is equipped with deployment and pointing mechanisms for in-orbit deployment and precise pointing of the antennae, ISRO said.</p><p><strong>Launching on demand</strong></p><p>NSIL’s demand-driven missions are in line with a series of reforms in the space sector announced by the Government of India that have enabled the agency to undertake projects that meet the service needs of users.</p><p>The first such mission was accomplished with GSAT-24, in June 2022, which had its onboard capacity fully secured by Tata Play.</p><p>In January this year, NSIL said it was eyeing a 2024 second-quarter launch for GSAT-N2, onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. The agency said most of the high throughput satellite capacity was already secured by Indian service providers.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is preparing for its second demand-driven satellite mission with GSAT-N2, a Ka-band high throughput communication satellite that is set to enhance broadband services and in-flight connectivity across the Indian region.</p><p>The mission by NSIL, the commercial arm of ISRO, is aimed at supporting a large subscriber base with small user terminals and designed to meet the service needs of remote regions. GSAT-N2 (originally named GSAT-20) has a lift-off mass of 4,700 kg and a mission life of 14 years. It comes with 32 spot beams – satellite signals transmitting to specific geographic areas – of which eight are narrow beams over the northeast region and 24 are wide beams covering the rest of India.</p><p>These 32 beams, generated by three 2.5-metre deployable reflectors in the payload, will be supported by hub stations that are located within mainland India. The Ka-band communication payload provides a throughput of approximately 48 Gbps. The satellite is compatible with all major launch vehicles.</p><p>Each Ka-band antenna is equipped with deployment and pointing mechanisms for in-orbit deployment and precise pointing of the antennae, ISRO said.</p><p><strong>Launching on demand</strong></p><p>NSIL’s demand-driven missions are in line with a series of reforms in the space sector announced by the Government of India that have enabled the agency to undertake projects that meet the service needs of users.</p><p>The first such mission was accomplished with GSAT-24, in June 2022, which had its onboard capacity fully secured by Tata Play.</p><p>In January this year, NSIL said it was eyeing a 2024 second-quarter launch for GSAT-N2, onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. The agency said most of the high throughput satellite capacity was already secured by Indian service providers.</p>