India is all set for the launch of its high-powered communication satellite, GSAT-30 onboard a European launch vehicle from French Guiana, early on Friday. The launch is scheduled at 2:35 am on Friday, when the Ariane-5 rocket would lift off from the European Spaceport in Kourou, France. It will be the 24th Indian satellite to be launched by the Ariane rocket of Arianespace, which is the commercial arm of the European Space Agency (ESA) and India’s long term partner in various satellite launches.
It would be the first Indian satellite to be injected into space this year and would strengthen India’s telecommunication services for the next 15 years. The satellite developed by scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) would replace the ageing INSAT 4A-spacecraft, launched in 2005 which is used by cable operators to broadcast their programmes abroad. GSAT30 would allow them to continue these services over an extended area.
GSAT-30 derives its heritage from ISRO’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series, which has more than a dozen satellites in the space orbit providing communication services over the country for decades.
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