ISRO to orbit GSAT-8 in July

Bangalore: Hard on the heels of the successful launch of the advanced GSAT-8 communications satellite, state-owned Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up for the launch of another advanced communication satellite – GSAT-12. The GSAT-8 will be put into geosynchronous orbit in the second week of July.

While the heavy, 3,100 kg, GSAT-8 was put into geosynchronous orbit by the European Ariane-5 rocket, ISRO will utilise a modified version of its workhorse polar satellite launch vehicle, the PSLV-C17, to put GSAT-12 into a similar orbit.

The 1,400kg GSAT-12 will be launched from the spaceport at Sriharikota. ''The 320-tonne heavy rocket will have extended strap-on's for carrying solid and liquid propellants to put the spacecraft in the geosynchronous orbit in two stages,' ISRO chairman, K Radhakrishnan, told reporters here.

The Rs148-crore GSAT-12 will have 12 extended C-band transponders for communications and weather forecast services. The launch cost is about Rs100 crore.

The GSAT-12 is configured as a replacement of INSAT-3B. It is configured on the well proven I-1K bus structure with the power handling capability of around 919 watts.

The GSAT-12 has been built at the space agency's satellite centre in this tech hub and will be shipped to Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh Thursday.