ISRO hopes to end use of leased transponders

[Sarkar]

National space agency ISRO expects to end its dependence on foreign satellites in a couple of years by putting three to four communication spacecraft in orbit, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said on Wednesday.

Of the 286 transponders totally available for various uses in the country, a third (33 per cent) is being leased for the past few years on a handful of commercial Asian and U.S. satellites.

“Today there are 96 leased transponders other than in the C-band. We [are coming] up with a series of communication satellites. Our objective is to replace whatever is currently being provided by foreign leasing and replace them with Indian transponders in a couple of years,” Dr. Kiran Kumar said.

ISRO hopes to end use of leased transponders - The Hindu

 

[Sarkar]

India to replace 96 foreign transponders in two years: ISRO

ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar today saidthe country will augment 96 additional transponders throughthree GSAT launches in the next two years for communication andbroadband purposes and replace the transponders leased by foreignsatellite players other than those in the 'C' Band.Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the World Metrology DayCelebrations organised by Metrology Society of India (SouthernRegion) he said the claims of huge shortage of transponders byprivate players was 'fictitious' and shortage, if any, will be bridged by the space agency in a phased manner. ISRO cannot decide its future launches based on such demands, he said.''We have launched GSAT 16 offering 48 transponders in Novemberlast year and GSAT 15 will go up during October with the samecapacity of transponders. "We are coming up with a series of satellite launches to bridge the gap as GSAT 17 and GSAT 18 will be launched during 2016,'' he said.Mr Kumar said the claims made by transponder users (according toreports up to 500) was 'fictitious' but said the country would need150 additional transponders in the near future.''The end objective is to replace all transponders leased fromforeign satellites by our own. As of today, ISRO is preparing to putin space 96 transponders other than 'C' band.


India to replace 96 foreign transponders in two years: ISRO