Ariane 5 orbits Indian telecom payload
Ariane 5 has launched the telecommunication satellite GSAT-24 into its planned geostationary transfer orbit. Arianespace announced liftoff of flight VA257 at 23:50 CEST on 23 June (18:50 local time) from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The first Ariane 5 mission of 2022 lasted about 40 minutes, from liftoff to release of the second payload. GSAT-24 is a Ku-band 4t-class communications satellite built for NewSpace India Limited by ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organisation. This satellite will provide television, telecommunications, broadcasting and direct-to-home services for Indian customers. Flight VA257 was the 113th Ariane 5 mission.
ISRO’s PSLV-C53/DS-EO mission
The countdown and subsequent successful launch of PSLV-C53/DS-EO on 30 June 2022 was yet another feather in ISRO’s cap!
Transfer of 10 in-orbit comms satellites to NewSpace
India’s Union Cabinet has approved the transfer of 10 in-orbit communication satellites from Government of India (Gol) to NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL), a wholly owned Public Sector Enterprise of GOI under the administrative control of the Department of Space. The Union Cabinet has also approved increasing the authorised share capital of NSIL from Rs.1000 crore to Rs.7500 crore. Transfer of these assets to NSIL will further provide the desired financial autonomy to the company to realise capital intensive programmes/ projects and thereby offering huge employment potential and technology spin-off to other sectors of the economy. This approval is expected to trigger domestic economic activity in space sector and increase India's share in the global space market. The Space Sector reforms mandated NSIL to undertake end-to-end commercial space activities and function as a full-fledged satellite operator. NSIL functioning as a single-window operator will also facilitate the ease of doing business in space sector. NSIL Board will now be empowered to price the transponders as per the market dynamics and global trends in the Satellite Communication sector. NSIL is also authorised to offer and allocate capacity as per its internal policies and guidelines.
