Space PSU NSIL to launch GSAT-20 on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 this year

BENGALURU: India’s Space PSU NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), will launch a high-throughput satellite on Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket — the Falcon 9 — later this year.
NSIL plans to launch its second demand-driven communications satellite, the GSAT-20 (renamed GSAT-N2), in the second quarter of 2024.The satellite will be a high-throughput Ka-band satellite primarily aimed at meeting India’s growing broadband connectivity needs.
“NSIL will fully own, operate and fund the 4,700kg satellite, which can provide up to 48Gbps of capacity across 32 beams covering all of India including the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands,” the Space PSU said.
This is the first time that NSIL will launch on the US launcher. The PSU has earlier made use of the services of France’s Arianespace. NSIL looks for services abroad when the weight of the satellite is higher than the capacity of Indian launch vehicles.
As part of the Indian government’s space sector reforms announced in 2020, NSIL is mandated to build, launch, own and operate satellites that address service needs on demand. In June 2022, NSIL successfully launched its first demand-driven satellite mission, GSAT-24, which is fully leased by TataPlay. NSIL currently owns and operates 11 communication satellites in orbit.
“The bulk of GSAT-20’s high-throughput satellite (HTS) capacity has already been secured by Indian service providers for broadband services as well as in-flight and maritime connectivity,” NSIL said.
It added that it is working with Isro on realising the GSAT-20 satellite and has contracted SpaceX to launch it aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the US. “This cost-effective satellite will play a significant role in connecting remote and underserved regions of the country,” NSIL added.