India’s space agency ISRO’s commercial arm, NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), announced its plan to utilize SpaceX’s Falcon 9 for an upcoming mission. This marks the first time ISRO will be using a SpaceX rocket for a satellite launch. The mission is set to deploy GSAT-20 (also known as GSAT-N2) during the second quarter of the year.
NSIL shared the official announcement on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), stating that GSAT-20 is part of ISRO’s second ‘demand-driven satellite mission’ focused on addressing India’s communication requirements. The satellite will be launched aboard Falcon 9 under a launch service contract between NSIL and SpaceX.
The first demand-driven mission, GSAT-24, was successfully launched in June 2022, with its capacity fully secured by Tata Play. Following a similar approach, NSIL aims to launch the GSAT-20 satellite in the second quarter of 2024. The mission is designed to provide cost-effective Ka-Ku band High Throughput Satellite (HTS) capacity, primarily catering to broadband, in-flight connectivity (IFMC), and cellular backhaul service needs.
NSIL highlighted that a significant portion of the HTS capacity on GSAT-20 has already been secured by Indian service providers. This collaboration between ISRO’s NSIL and SpaceX represents an important step in India’s space exploration efforts, showcasing the international partnerships and utilization of commercial launch services for satellite missions.
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