Throughput communication soon for India
India is on the cusp of a satellite-driven digital or broadband
revolution, similar to DTH or direct-to-home broadcasting of the 2000s, with a
plan to deploy five high-throughput
communication spacecraft starting this year.
Details:
- Two of the Gen-5 spacecraft are approved and getting ready; the others are said to be at various stages of consideration.
- The first of them, GSAT-19, is slated for launch from India in December. It will showcase the country’s technology capability in the new area of spectrum efficiency that is trending across the globe.
- ISRO will also test new technologies with its HTSs, such as the new flexible ‘bus’ or satellite assembly platform, electric propulsion, Ka band, lithium ion batteries, among others.
About HTSs:
HTSs have been game-changers in the West, providing Internet
connectivity many times faster, smoother, easier and probably cheaper than now.
HTS reuses satellite ‘beams’ several times over smaller areas.
- It will drive a next generation technology revolution. Individuals, planners in government, businesses like banks, ATMs, reservation systems, cellular and private networks and users in remote areas are expected to benefit from improved connectivity.
- HTSs provide at least twice the total throughput of a classic FSS satellite for the same amount of allocated orbital spectrum thus significantly reducing cost-per-bit.
- HTS are primarily deployed to provide broadband Internet access service (point-to-point) to regions unserved or underserved by terrestrial technologies where they can deliver services comparable to terrestrial services in terms of pricing and bandwidth.
- HTS can furthermore support point-to-multipoint applications and even broadcast services such as DTH distribution to relatively small geographic areas served by a single spot beam.
- A fundamental difference to existing satellites is also the fact that HTS are linked to ground infrastructure through a feeder link using a regional spot beam dictating the location of possible teleports. By contrast teleports for traditional satellites can be set up in a wider area as their spotbeams’ footprints cover entire continents and regions.
