Shooting high in the sky! India launches GSAT 11 giving major boost to high speed internet connectivity

Kourou, December 5: India wakes up with a smile and with a proud feeling. The heaviest, largest and most-advanced high throughout communication satellite of India, GSAT-11 was launched successfully from Kourou Launch Zone today onboard Ariane 5 VA246 launch vehicle.

Blasting off from the Ariane Launch Complex in Kourou, a French territory located along the northeastern coast of South America at 02:07 am (IST), the Ariane-5 vehicle injected the GSAT-11 into the orbit in a flawless flight lasting about 33 minutes.

 

Gsat-11, a high throughout satellite, is capable of “providing high bandwidth connectivity” with up to 14 gigabit per second (GBPS) data transfer speed. With this high net connectivity, the satellite’s designed lifetime is more than 15 years.

 

Gsat-11 is meant to provide multi-spot beam coverage over India’s mainland and nearby islands. Weighing about 5,854 kg, GSAT-11 is the "heaviest" satellite built by the ISRO. The ambitious satellite is a next generation "high throughout" communication satellite configured around ISRO's I-6K Bus. 

GSAT-11 is the third in a series of four satellites aimed at achieving the government's ambitious target to provide high data connectivity of 100 GBPS in the country under the Digital India Mission. The satellite will be initially placed in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit and later, raised to the Geostationary Orbit by firing the on-board Liquid Apogee Motor.

The satellite will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country and also be a platform to demonstrate new generation applications. GSAT-11 would provide high data connectivity to users across India, broadband connectivity to gram panchayats under the BharathNet project and support high data rate applications for enterprise network and consumer broadband applications.