• ISRO’s latest communication satellite — GSAT-N2 — was successfully launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral in the US on November 19.

• GSAT-N2 is a Ka-band High throughput communication satellite of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

• The 4,700kg GSAT-N2 High-throughput (HTS) satellite onboard a Falcon 9 rocket has been injected into the desired Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) has taken control of the satellite.

• GSAT-24 was NSIL’s first demand driven satellite and launched from Kourou, French Guiana on June 23, 2022.

Highlights of GSAT-N2:

• The second Demand Driven satellite of NSIL, GSAT-N2 is a Ka-band High throughput communication satellite that will enhance broadband services and in-flight connectivity across the Indian region. 

• GSAT-N2, featuring multiple spot beams and wideband Ka x Ka transponders, aims to support a large subscriber base with small user terminals, boosting system throughput through its multi-beam architecture which allows frequency reuse.

• The satellite has a mission life of 14 years and is equipped with 32 user beams, comprising eight narrow spot beams over the northeast region and 24 wide spot beams over the rest of India.

• These 32 beams will be supported by hub stations located within mainland India.

• The payload consists of three parabolic 2.5-meter deployable reflectors with multiple feeds generating 32 spot beams over the Indian region using a single feed per beam configuration.

• The GSAT-N2 spacecraft structure is based on the standard Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP)-based I4K bus.

NewSpace India Limited

• The NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a central public sector enterprise (CPSE), under the administrative control of the department of space (DOS) was established on March 6, 2019. 

• NSIL is the commercial arm of ISRO with the primary responsibility of enabling Indian industries to take up high technology space related activities.

• It was set up to meet the ever-increasing demands of the Indian space programme and to commercially exploit the emerging global space market. 

• In June 2020, the government enhanced the role and scope of NSIL to encompass more responsibilities in the primary business areas and widen the scope in June 2020.

The revised mandate broadly covers:

i) Owning satellites for earth observation and communication applications.

ii) Providing space-based earth observation and communication services.

iii) Building satellites and launching them as per demand.

iv) Building launch vehicles through Indian industry and launch as per requirements.

v) Providing launch services.

vi) Technology transfer to Indian Industry.

• As part of space sector reforms announced by the government, NSIL was mandated to build, launch, own and operate satellites in “demand-driven mode” for meeting service needs of the user. 

• As part of this, NSIL successfully undertook its first demand-driven satellite mission — GSAT-24 — in June 2022, in which the capacity onboard the satellite was fully secured by M/s TataPlay. 

• GSAT-24 mission was fully funded by NSIL.

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