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Bangalore: India's first exclusive defence satellite GSAT-7 was successfully launched by European space consortium Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana today, giving a major push to the country's maritime security.
Indian Navy would be the user of the multi-band home-built communication spacecraft, expected to be operational by September end.
The Rs 185-crore GSAT-7, the country's maiden dedicated spacecraft for Defence applications, was launched during a 50-minute launch window which started at 2 am, and it was telecast live by Doordarshan.
After a flight of almost 34 minutes, the satellite was injected into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator.
During August 31-September 4, three orbit-raising operations will be performed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to place the satellite into geostationary orbit of 36,000 km above the equator.
By September 14, GSAT-7 is planned to be positioned in its orbital slot of 74 deg East longitude and subsequently the satellite's communication transponders will be switched on.
The frequency bands of GSAT-7 will help space-based marine communications. It has coverage over India landmass as well as surrounding seas."It's important from security and surveillance points of view", an ISRO official said.
According to a senior space scientist, so far the Navy had limitation from line of sight and ionospheric effects, among others, as far as space-based communications were concerned. It was thought essential to have an integrated platform for the Navy's exclusive use.
Earlier, satellite communication in ships was through Inmarsat, a major provider of global mobile satellite communications services.
