Isro Buys Communication Satellite For $40 Million

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has purchased an in-orbit satellite for $40 million from Arabsat to make up for the loss of Insat-2D and the current problems with the Insat-2C.

The satellite which has 26 transponders will be towed to Isro space parking slot of 73 degrees from the Arabsat slot of 55 degrees, an Isro statement from Bangalore said. The satellite is towed by firing small thrusters.

The Isro-Arabsat deal was signed on November 26 to serve Isros demand for satellite transponders for the next five years. Arabsat, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is a consortium of Gulf Cooperation Council members.

The deal includes the satellite in orbit, insurance coverage for one year and all the control equipment and software.

The spacecraft control will be transferred from Riyadh to the Isro master control facility at Hassan in Karnataka.

The satellite is named Arabsat-1C. It will be redesignated with an Insat tag and operated as part of Isros five-satellite Insat system.

The satellite contains 25 c-band transponders and one s-band transponder and has enough fuel on-board for operation for about five years.

On the Insat-2C a communication C-band transponder recently collapsed.

This, Isro sources said could manifest itself into a serious malady that could affect the whole satellite within the next month or so.

This is because many V-sat operators, telecom and television services are hooked on to the 2Cs 18 transponders.

The problem with the iNSAT-2C comes barely a month after the Insat-2D failure, the countrys biggest communication disaster that blocked out the National Stock Exchange for days.