Context:

• ISRO launched the communication satellite GSAT-29 on board its second developmental flight GSLV-Mk III D2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

Specifications of GSLV MK III

• It is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle, measuring 43.494 m and weighing 640 tonnes.
• The first stage has two boosters with solid propellant, the second is the core with liquid propellant, and the cryogenic engine forms the final stage.

Specifications of GSAT-29

• Weighing 3,423 kg at lift-off, GSAT-29 is the heaviest satelliteto be launched from India. With a mission life of 10 years, it is the 33rd communication satellite built by ISRO.
• It will be placed in a geostationary transfer orbit. At its closest point it will be 190 km above the Earth, and at its farthest it will be 35,975 km above the Earth.
• According to ISRO, “GSAT-29 is a multi-beam, multiband communication satellite.” Its payloads are designed to mainly focus on connectivity to the users in the hilly and geographically inaccessible areas, especially those in Jammu & Kashmir and North Eastern regions of India.
• It also carries a Geo High-Resolution Camera to aid in high-resolution imaging. For the first time, an optical communication payload will be utilised for data transmission at a very high rate.
• ISRO’s Master Control facility at Hassan, Karnataka will take over the command and control of GSAT-29 soon after its separation from GSLV Mk III – D2.
• With the success of this launch, the developmental phase of the GSLV Mk III vehicle programme will be complete and the vehicle’s operational phase will begin.

Source:TH