“Getting a great view of the payload there on your screen. We are approaching payload deployment … just around 20 seconds … GSAT-N2 payload deployment confirmed … There goes GSAT-N2 and you can see the satellite moving away from the second stage.”
GSAT-N2 successfully deployed
📹 @SpaceX @NSIL_India @isro @nitingokhale @amitabhprevi #spacex #isro #space pic.twitter.com/kBRz62FJZv
— Interstellar News (@interstellar_go) November 18, 2024
With that announcement from SpaceX, India’s most sophisticated communications satellite GSAT-N2, also its heaviest at 4,700 kg, was carried and deployed into space by a Falcon-9 rocket belonging to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The launch took a little over half an hour and orbital deployment was smooth with SpaceX providing real time coverage.
GSAT-N2 will provide internet connectivity for remote areas in India’s northeast and even in-flight internet services.
Speaking just before the satellite was deployed, Dr Somanath, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said “GSAT-N2 is a next generation communication satellite owned by New Space India Ltd … built by ISRO to meet the high throughput communication requirements. It operates in K Band providing almost 48 gigabytes per second throughput It is going to be positioned at 68 degrees east longitude providing broadband services and flight connectivity primarily in the Indian region and will have an orbital life of 14 years.”
.@isro Chief S Somanath talks about the applications of GSAT-N2 satellite launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9
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— StratNewsGlobal (@StratNewsGlobal) November 18, 2024
GSAT-N2 has 32 “User Beams” including eight “Narrow Spot Beams” that can focus on specific areas of the earth, and 24 “Wide Spot Beams” that cover larger areas.
The Falcon-9 rocket was chosen for this mission as ISRO’s heaviest launch vehicle the LVM-3 can carry a maximum weight of 4000 kg.
This is the first commercial collaboration between ISRO and SpaceX. In the past India has used the services of Europe’s Arianespace, which currently lacks operational rockets. The success of this mission is expected to pave the way for future collaborations with SpaceX.
Incidentally, SpaceX’s Dragon Capsule will ferry an Indian astronaut, Gp. Capt Shubanshu Shukla, to the International Space Station next year where he will spend about 10 days carrying out various experiments.
