Heaviest Indian Communication Satellite Till Date, GSAT-11 Returns To Guiana For December Launch

The heaviest Indian communication satellite built to date for fast Internet connectivity, GSAT-11 is back at the Guiana Space Centre, reports The Hindu.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Sivan had on Wednesday (31 October) confirmed that the 5.7-tonne spacecraft was shipped from Bengaluru last week and has arrived at the European launch port and they were planning a launch on 4 December this year.

The satellite was planned to be launched in May 2018, but was recalled back to India by ISRO before the launch for additional checks. This was after ISRO lost communication to GSAT-6A soon after its launch in March 2018.

GSAT-11 has been paired with South Korea’s weather satellite GEO-Kompsat 2A by Arianespace, ISRO’s long-time European launch services contractor. The two are scheduled to go to space on the Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

Arianespace's CEO Stephane Israel tweeted a picture of the satellite on 29 October as it arrived at the port halfway across the globe by a special Russian Antonov cargo flight.

GSAT-11 is built to provide the Indian region excellent communication and 12 GBPS connectivity with its multiple spot beams in Ka and Ku bands.