It
has invited expressions of interest from global satellite manufacturer’s .The
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to foray into the powerful and
high-throughput world of ‘K’band satellites by importing a six-tonne satellite,
building one itself, or both.It is looking at packing
in 100 beams in a ‘next generation’ satellite compared to its regular 40, a
senior ISRO associate and satellite expert said. It is testing the market to
find a seller who could make it in the next 2 to 3 years as also be a partner
in building such an indigenous satellite. It could take ISRO at least five
years to work on it from scratch.
ISRO
has assembled all its communications and Earth observation satellites in-house
for some decades now. “We are trying out a different and twin-pronged approach
here,” he saidISRO Satellite Centre or ISAC, the satellite assembly centre in
Bangalore, earlier this month invited expressions of interest from global
satellite manufacturers ‘for design, development, fabrication and
operationalisation’ of a 6-tonne K-band spacecraft. It would weigh almost
double the size of the biggest that ISRO has produced so far.
Experts
say the K band will allow higher and faster data transmission on the Internet
by at least two or three times what ISRO satellites now offer; and that it will
suit VSAT operators who support this traffic.“K band is the future, the world
is moving towards it and if we don’t get in now, we will be left behind,” the
scientist told The Hindu. “We have started building a six-tonne satellite at
ISRO facilities, but it will take time.”
In
2010, ISRO sent up GSAT-4 with a K band transponder. However, its home-grown
GSLV launcher failed. The next one, GSAT-11, is at least two years away. The
same year, it also built a K-band satellite, called HYLAS-1 (or Highly Advanced
Satellite) for a fee for British operator Avanti in a tie-up with Europe’s
Astrium.
A K
band transponder can accommodate far more users more efficiently than ISRO’s
older Ku band satellites, one of them said. However, a disadvantage was ‘rain
fade’ or disturbed transmission during rain. The latest exercise comes at a
time when ISRO is desperately augmenting its satellite capacity by leasing
foreign satellites partially or fully.
For further information
visit: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/isro-eyes-a-6tonne-k-band-satellite/article4134039.ece
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