Islam Times – India’s space agency on Sunday launched a powerful military communications satellite for the navy using its most capable rocket, marking the heaviest such payload sent to orbit from Indian soil.The CMS-03 satellite, also known as GSAT-7R, lifted off atop a Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 6:56 a.m. EST (1056 GMT; 5:26 p.m. local time) on Sunday, Nov. 2.
The LVM3 placed the 9,700-pound (4,400-kilogram) spacecraft into geostationary transfer orbit about 16 minutes after launch, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
It was the heaviest communications satellite ever launched to geostationary transfer orbit from India.
The satellite will later move into geostationary orbit, about 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth, where it will maintain a fixed position relative to the planet’s surface.
Such orbits are commonly used for communications and surveillance satellites.
CMS-03 will replace GSAT-7, launched in 2013, as the Indian Navy’s main communications platform.
“With upgraded payloads, GSAT-7R or CMS-03 is designed to expand secure, multi-band communications for the Navy’s growing blue-water operations,” the Times of India reported.
“CMS-03 will provide real-time communication for naval operations, air defence and strategic command control across a wide oceanic and terrestrial region,” the report added.
Sunday’s mission marked the eighth flight of the LVM3 rocket, which first launched in December 2014.
Its previous mission, in July 2023, successfully carried the Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander toward the moon’s south pole.