India and SpaceX partnership: India to launch communications satellite through SpaceX rocket
This new high-capacity satellite will help boost India’s broadband communication, especially in the remote and unconnected parts of the country, NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of India’s space agency ISRO, said in a statement.
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India has entered into a partnership with billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX. India will be using a SpaceX rocket, the Falcon-9 to launch a communications satellite.
This new high-capacity satellite will help boost India’s broadband communication, especially in the remote and unconnected parts of the country, NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of India’s space agency ISRO, said in a statement.
NSIL has said that the launch is scheduled for the second quarter this year. The communications satellite weighs 4700kg, exceeding the current highest spacecraft launching capacity of 4000kg of ISRO.
Musk has been keen to bring the Starlink satellite broadband to India. He is also in the midst of discussing an investment proposal for Tesla to set up a factory here to manufacture its electric vehicles (EV). However, he is facing some retaliating from India’s domestic industry.
NSIL’s GSAT-20 high-throughput satellite has an offering capacity of 48 gigabits per second. It will be fully owned, operated and funded by the NSIL.
