GSAT-7A is an advanced military communications satellite meant primarily for the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

with

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

using 30% of capacity.

Overview

GSAT-7A allows IAF to interlink different ground radar stations, ground airbase, aircraft to aircraft Real-time Control System, Airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft such as

Beriev A-50 The Beriev A-50 ( NATO reporting name: Mainstay) is a Soviet airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft based on the Ilyushin Il-76 transport. Developed to replace the Tupolev Tu-126 "Moss", the A-50 first flew in 1978. Its existence ...

Phalcon and DRDO AEW&CS. The satellite enhances Network-centric warfare capabilities of the Indian Air Force and its global operations. The satellite is also used by

's Aviation Corps for real-time control and communication of its aviation operations. India is in the process of acquiring high-altitude and long endurance satellite-controlled UAVs, such as American armed Predator-B or

Sea Guardian The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Unit ...

drones, that can fire at enemy targets from long distances. As of December 2018, there are 320 dual use or dedicated military satellite in the sky, half of which are owned by the United States, followed by Russia, China and India (14).Why Isro's Gsat-7A launch is important for the Indian Air Force
Times of India, 19 Dec 2018. To boost its network-centric operations, the IAF is also likely to get another satellite GSAT-7C within a few years. The GSAT-7A, with a mission life of 8 years, is also equipped with the

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

of 10

Ku band The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally german: Kurz-unten), because it is the lower part of the o ...

transponders,Chandrayaan-2 on track, 32 missions next year: ISRO
Indian Express, 20 Dec 2018. which offers several advantages over c-band, such more powerful satellite uplink and downlink signals, smaller antennas, and non-interference of communication signals with

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

microwave systems. Payload: * 10 channels in

with switchable frequency for mobile users. * Four steerable antennas * One fixed Gregorian Antenna.

Launch

GSAT-7A weighing was successfully launched on 19 December 2018 by

GSLV Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is an expendable launch system operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). GSLV was used in fourteen launches from 2001 to 2021. Even though GSLV Mark III shares the name, it is a ...

Mk II F11 rocket from

Second Launch Pad Satish Dhawan Space Centre - SDSC (formerly Sriharikota Range - SHAR) is a rocket launch centre ( spaceport) operated by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is located in Sriharikota, Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. Sriharikot ...

Satish Dhawan Space Centre Satish Dhawan Space Centre - SDSC (formerly Sriharikota Range - SHAR) is a rocket launch centre ( spaceport) operated by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is located in Sriharikota, Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. Sriharikota ...

. This three-stage launch vehicle 51 meters tall, has a lift-off mass of about 421 tonnes and indigenously developed

cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...

stage.

References

Communications satellites in geostationary orbit GSAT satellites Spacecraft launched by India in 2018 Spacecraft launched by GSLV rockets {{India-spacecraft-stub

Overview

Launch

See also

References