NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Govt. of India company under Department of Space and the commercial arm of ISRO, is gearing up to undertake its 2nd Demand driven communication satellite mission involving GSAT-20 (renamed as GSAT-N2), a highthroughput Ka-band Satellite during 2nd quarter of 2024. GSAT-20 satellite will be fully owned, operated and funded by NSIL.
As part of Space Sector reforms announced by Govt. of India during June 2020, NSIL was mandated to build, launch, own and operate satellites in “Demand-driven mode” for meeting service needs of the user. As part of this, NSIL successfully undertook its 1st Demand-driven satellite mission, GSAT-24 during June 2022, wherein the capacity onboard the satellite was fully secured by M/s TataPlay. GSAT-24 mission was fully funded by NSIL. Presently, NSIL owns and operates 11 communication satellites in orbit.
On similar lines, during 2nd quarter of 2024, NSIL will be undertaking the GSAT-20 satellite mission to offer cost-effective Ka-Ka band HTS capacity primarily for meeting the Broadband, as well as IFMC and cellular backhaul service needs. Bulk of the HTS capacity on-board GSAT-20 satellite has already been secured by Indian service providers.
GSAT-20 offers Ka-Ka band HTS capacity with 32 beams having Pan-India coverage including A&N and Lakshadweep islands. NSIL is realizing GSAT-20 satellite through ISRO and will be launched on-board Falcon-9 under a Launch service contract between M/s NSIL and M/s SpaceX, USA. GSAT-20 weighing 4700 kg, offers HTS capacity of nearly 48Gpbs. The satellite has been specifically designed to meet the demanding service needs of remote/ unconnected regions.
Source: NSIL
