Article Posted on : - Nov 09, 2015

A representational photo.

BENGALURU (PTI): India's latest Communication Satellite GSAT-15 is scheduled for launch on board Arianespace rocket from the space port of Kourou in French Guiana, on the monring of November 11.

The launch of GSAT-15 with its co-passenger Arabsat-6B for Arabsat, Saudi Arabia, is planned at 0304 Hrs IST, by Ariane-5 VA-227 launch vehicle.

Weighing 3,164 kg at lift-off, GSAT-15 is a high power satellite being inducted into the INSAT/GSAT system. It carries a total of 24 communication transponders in Ku-band as well as a GPS-Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands, ISRO said.

GSAT-15 is the third satellite to carry GAGAN payload after GSAT-8 and GSAT-10, which are already providing navigation services from orbit. It also carries a Ku-band beacon as well to help in accurately pointing ground antennas towards the satellite, it added.

GSAT-15 will be the 19th payload launched by Arianespace for ISRO.

Planned during a 43-minute launch window that opens at 6:34 pm (local time in French Guiana), the Ariane 5 mission will have a total payload lift performance of 9,810 kg, Arianespace said.

This includes the two satellites' mass at liftoff - 5,798 kg for Arabsat-6B and 3,164 kg for GSAT-15 - along with launcher integration hardware and Ariane 5's dual-passenger deployment system, it added.

Arabsat-6B, to be renamed BADR-7 once in orbit, will be the ninth satellite orbited by Arianespace for use by the operator Arabsat, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It is the initial sixth-generation satellite for Arabsat's fleet, providing broadcast, broadband and telecommunications services over the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.

GSAT-15 brings in Ku-band capacity to augment as well as provide replacement to indigenous operational satellite capacity, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.

The GAGAN payload provides the Satellite Based Augmentation System, through which the accuracy of the positioning information obtained from the GPS satellites is improved by a network of ground based receivers and made available to the users in the country through geostationary satellites, it added.

After injection into GTO (Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit), its Master Control Facility at Hassan takes control of GSAT-15 and performs the initial orbit raising manoeuvres using the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of the satellite, placing it in circular Geostationary Orbit.

With the designed in-orbit operational life of 12 years, GSAT-15 will be positioned at 93.5 deg East longitude and co-located with INSAT-3A and INSAT-4B satellites.