India to launch GSAT-12 communication satellite on 15 July

Chennai: ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C17 (PSLV- C17) rocket is scheduled to blast off on 15 July evening carrying the communication satellite GSAT-12, which will have transponders for communication and weather forecast services, the space agency said Thursday.

Though PSLV rockets are largely used by ISRO to launch remote sensing/earth observation satellites, it has also been used to put into orbit communication satellites in geo-transfer orbit (GTO).

The PSLV-C17 will inject the GSAT-12 communications satellite into an elliptical transfer orbit (sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit) with a perigee of 284 km and an apogee of 21,000 km. Subsequently, commands will be given from ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka, for firing the liquid apogee motor on board the satellite to raise both its apogee and perigee to an altitude of 36,000 km and place it in a circular orbit.

Preparations for the launch of GSAT-12 are progressing well at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, around 80 km from Chennai, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement Thursday.

The GSAT-12 satellite, which will weigh 1,410 kg at lift-off, has 12 extended C-band transponders.

The satellite is expected to serve the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) sector, which transmits data like point of sale transactions or to provide satellite internet access and others.