The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch India's newest military satellite, GSAT-7A. The satellite will be carried by the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F11 (GSLV-F11) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The GSLV-F-11/GSAT-7A mission marks ISRO's 35th announcement satellite and the 13th flight of the GSLV rocket to orbit.
The rocket's third stage cryogenic engines were successfully assembled at the launch protection on Saturday.
GSAT-7A is ISRO's 35th infrastructure satellite built completely for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Army.
The satellite will expand the communication capabilities of the IAF in different ways. First, GSAT-7A will allow cross-connectivity between different ground radar stations, airbases and Airborne Early Warning And Control (AWACS) aircraft like the Beriev A-50 Phalcon and DRDO AEW&CS.
The satellite will also boost the air force's network-dependent warfare capabilities, enhancing its abilities to operate globally.
It is also expected to give a big push to drone operations in the Indian military by helping the Navy reduce its reliance on ground-based control stations and switch to satellite-controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that offer better range and endurance, industry experts told Business Standard.
ISRO's 2.25-ton GSAT-7A is designed to work in the Ku-band frequency and houses an 'I-2K' bus, which functions as the satellite's communication hub or service module.
I-2K satellite bus was developed by ISRO and now marketed by its mercantile arm, Antrix. The 'I' in I-2K stands for INSAT, a series of communication satellites developed and launched by ISRO, and the 2k gives away the weight-category of the satellites it is designed for: the 2,000-kg class.
The satellite buses developed by ISRO are specifically developed for small and medium weight satellites.
It is also designed with Gregorian reflector antennae, which are antennas that offer high gains for radio signals that need to be transmitted over long distances.
The GSLV-F11/GSAT-7A mission will be ISRO's last in 2018, with the launch of Chandrayaan-2 and the PSLV-C44 remote-sensing satellite launch lined up in January 2019.
ISRO also has multiple interplanetary missions in its pipeline over the next few years: the Chandrayaan-2 mission in January 2019, the Aditya L1 probe to the Sun's orbit in 2019, the Mangalyaan-2 mission to Mars in 2022/2023 and the Shukrayaan mission to Venus in 2023
