Demand for strategic satellites rises, countdown for IAF satellite launch begins

Chennai : The Indian space agency is facing an increased demand for strategic satellites, a top official has said, even as the countdown began on Tuesday afternoon for the launch a day later of the country's latest military communications satellite, the GSAT-7 for the IAF.

"There is increased demand for satellites from strategic sectors. About six/seven satellites are planned to be built," a senior official of Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO) told IANS, preferring anonymity.

In November, ISRO put into orbit the sharp-eyed HysIS satellite for a range of applications and the data it generated by it will also be accesible by the Indian miliatry.

In 2013, ISRO had sent up the GSAT7, or Rukmini, communication satellite, for use by the Indian Navy.

The GSAT-7A satellite for the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be carried aboard a geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk II) that will lift-off on Wednesday evening.

According to ISRO, the GSLV rocket will inject the 2,250-kg GSAT-7A into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), just over 19 minutes after the lift-off.

The GSAT-7A will be lifted to its final geostationary orbit from the GTO.

The satellite, with a maximum life of eight years, has been built to provide communication capability to the IAF in Ku-band over the Indian region.