Elon Musk’s SpaceX will launch India’s heavy communication satellite GSAT-20 from Cape Canaveral in the US on Nov 19. Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) Chairman S Somanath has said that SpaceX’s Falcon-9 will launch ISRO’s GSAT-20, also called GSAT N-2, on November 19. The satellite is expected to remain in operation for 14 years. It will provide vital services across India, including internet connectivity for remote areas.
Weighing 4,700 kg, GSAT-20 is one of India’s heaviest communication satellites. The GSAT-20 is too heavy for India’s own rocket LVM-3, popularly known as ‘Bahubali’ to carry, so SpaceX was chosen for the launch. Radhakrishnan Durairaj, Chairman and Managing Director of New Space India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, said that the ISRO has got a good deal for launching such a heavy satellite on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
India had till now relied on French launch service provider Arianespace for such heavy satellite launches, however, the company does not have any operational rockets at present and the only reliable option India had was to go with SpaceX. SpaceX’s heavy-lifter Falcon-9 rocket can launch payloads of 8,300 kg or 8.3 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit.
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