Bengaluru: NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has officially entered into a long-term memorandum of understanding (MoU) with French satellite launch provider Arianespace. The collaboration aims to jointly address the expanding global market for commercial satellite launch services.
Under the agreement, NSIL’s heavy lift LVM3 rocket and Arianespace’s Ariane-6 rocket will work together to meet the growing demand for launching heavy communication, earth observation, and satellite constellation payloads.
The move follows Arianespace’s retirement of its Ariane-5 launch vehicle and delays in the development of its Ariane-6 rocket, which has previously launched satellites globally, including from India.
NSIL’s assessments of the global launch services market predict significant growth opportunities over the next decade for rockets capable of carrying large payloads into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) and low earth orbit (LEO). The success of this partnership will depend on India’s ability to scale up production of the LVM-3 rocket, with efforts underway to involve the private sector in the process.
In January, NSIL announced its plans to launch a high-throughput satellite on Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket later this year. Additionally, NSIL is set to launch its second demand-driven communications satellite, GSAT-20 (renamed GSAT-N2), in the second quarter of 2024.
This high-throughput Ka-band satellite is designed to address India’s growing broadband connectivity needs. NSIL will fully own, operate, and fund the 4,700kg satellite, providing up to 48Gbps of capacity across 32 beams covering all of India, including the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands.
Notably, this marks the first time NSIL will launch on a U.S. launcher, having previously utilized the services of France’s Arianespace for heavier satellites exceeding the capacity of Indian launch vehicles.
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