ISRO successfully launches GSAT-6A satellite

March 30, 2018

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched GSAT 6A communication satellite on board of GSLV-F08 rocket from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This was overall 12th GSLV flight (and fifth successful) and sixth flight with indigenously built cryogenic upper stage engine.

GSAT-6A

GSAT-6A is high power S-band communication satellite with a mission life of about 10 years. It was placed in Geosynchronous orbit of Earth. It weighs 2066 kg and is most powerful home-made communication satellite till date. It is similar to GSAT-6 is a high power S-band communication satellite that was launched back in 2015.
The S-band’s antenna of GSAT-6A was developed by ISRO’s Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad. It also has smaller 0.8-metre antenna for communication in the C band. It will provide mobile communication to India through multi beam coverage facility.
It will also provide platform for developing technologies such as demonstration of S-Band Unfurlable Antenna, handheld ground terminals and network management techniques that could be useful in satellite based mobile communication applications. It will be also designated for military use especially in remotest areas of the country.
Special feature of GSAT-6A: It has 6-metre-wide umbrella-like antenna that will be unfurled in space. The antenna is thrice as broad as antennas generally used in ISRO satellites. It will enable mobile communication from anywhere via hand-held ground terminals. It will require small ground station as regular communication satellites with smaller antenna require much larger ground stations.

S-Band

S-band is electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). It is very useful and is used globally for 4G service and is extremely valuable for mobile broadband services. It crosses conventional boundary between Super High Frequency (SHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) bands at 3.0 GHz.