Communication Archives - Defence Monitor

17 Dec

India puts into orbit its 42nd communication satellite

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): India on Thursday successfully placed its 42nd communication satellite CMS-01 (formerly GSAT-12R) in the geosynchronous transfer orbit in a textbook style.India's brand new communication satellite CMS-01 with a life span of seven years will provide services in Extended-C Band of the frequency spectrum. The satellite will cover Indian mainland, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands, said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the country's space agency. The CMS-01 will be a replacement for GSAT-12 that weighed 1,410 kg and was launched on July 11, 2011 with a mission life of eight years. Expressing his happiness at the successful launch…

20 Sep

Keep it simple: Learnings from Vikram’s crash

Chennai: Keep the technology simple; freeze the mission profile and don't change it till the last moment; carry out the simulation tests to the maximum possible level -- these are some of the learnings from the crash landing of India's moon lander Vikram, said a former official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Speaking to IANS on condition of anonymity, the official said, "Space technology itself is complicated and one should not add more complications to it as it had happened with the lander Vikram. For instance, the four throttleable engines to work in unison is a technical challenge. Then…

18 Sep

UP’s Rajni won’t come down to earth unless ISRO ‘recovers’ Vikram!

Prayagraj: A video doing the rounds on social media since Tuesday shows a man standing on a pillar of New Yamuna Bridge in Prayagraj. He climbed with the Indian flag and refused to get down unless ISRO manages to 'recover' the Vikram lander. The man has been identified as Rajnikant. Although he claims to be a namesake of the Tamil superstar, his action-packed drama did not quite manage to achieve the impossible.Vikram is still believed to be out there, somewhere on the lunar surface.The man has been identified as a native of Manda in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, according to an "indiatoday.in"…

07 Sep

ISRO chief breaks down, Modi hugs, consoles him

Bengaluru: Years of hard work literally came to naught for ISRO on Saturday after it lost communication with Moon lander Vikram, and no amount of words could put it right for the scientists at ISTRAC here. Despite a motivational speech by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had rushed in to watch the mission's success late last night and then again was with the Team Chandrayaan-2 to speak to them, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan could not hold his tears and broke down as the PM was about to leave. In a very visible emotional outburst, Sivan was seen in…

06 Feb

Indian communication satellite GSAT-31 launched successfully

Chennai: India's 40th communication satellite GSAT-31 was successfully put into orbit by an Ariane 5 rocket belonging to Arianespace on early Wednesday, said Indian space agency ISRO and Arianespace.According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the telecommunication satellite, GSAT-31 was successfully launched on February 06, 2019 from Kourou launch base, French Guiana by Ariane-5. The 2,535-kg GSAT-31 would augment the Ku-band transponder capacity in geostationary orbit.According to ISRO, GSAT-31, with a mission life of 15 years, will be used for supporting VSAT networks, television uplinks, digital satellite news gathering, DTH television services, cellular back haul connectivity and more.The GSAT-31 will provide…

19 Dec

India puts into orbit military satellite for IAF

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): Rounding off the year 2018, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday successfully launched a military communication satellite GSAT-7A, primarily for the Indian Air Force, in a text-book style.At 4.10 p.m. the GSLV-F11 rocket ascended into the sky from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre with a long fiery orange flame at its tail. Slightly over 19 minutes into its flight, the Indian rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F11 (GSLV-F11) rocket slung the satellite in a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).The GSAT-7A will be pushed up further to its final geostationary orbit firing its onboard motors…

05 Dec

India’s heaviest communication satellite put into orbit

Chennai: India's heaviest and next generation communication satellite with high throughput GSAT-11 was put into orbit by Ariane-5 rocket of Arianespace from French Guiana on Wednesday, the Indian space agency and Arianespace said.Weighing about 5,854 kg, GSAT-11 is the heaviest satellite built by ISRO. GSAT-11 is the fore-runner in the series of advanced communication satellites with multi-spot beam antenna coverage over Indian mainland and Islands, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. "GSAT-11 will boost the broadband connectivity to rural and inaccessible Gram Panchayats in the country coming under the Bharat Net Project, which is part of Digital India Programme," ISRO Chairman…

28 Nov

Vinay Kumar new Director of BEL’s Bangalore Complex

Bengaluru: Mr Vinay Kumar Katyal has assumed charge as Director of the Bangalore Complex of Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) with effect from November 27, 2018. He was GM (Military Communication)/BEL-Bangalore before his elevation. Mr Vinay Kumar Katyal joined BEL at its Panchkula Unit in June 1985 as Deputy Engineer after completing his B.Tech (Electronics & Communication) from IIT-BHU, Varanasi. He was involved in the project execution of the new Unit of BEL being raised at Panchkula, Haryana. During his stint at Panchkula Unit, he established automated production facilities for STARS-V Tx/Rx for Army. He worked as Project Manager…

15 Oct

GSAT-29 communication satellite orbit raised

Chennai: India's latest communication satellite GSAT-29's orbit was successfully raised on Thursday by firing its motors for 4,875 seconds, said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).The first of its scheduled three orbit raising operations was successfully carried out by firing the liquid apogee motor on board the satellite, it said.The motor was fired at 8.34 a.m. for one hour and 35 minutes. The GSAT-29, which will link Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states under the Digital India programme, was put into orbit by India's latest and heaviest rocket geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-Mk III/D2) on Wednesday.According to ISRO, after the…