'Grand Successful Mission': ISRO Chief V Narayanan Hails Liftoff of India's Heaviest Communication Satellite CMS-03

Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh: ISRO Chief V Narayanan has lauded the liftoff of Indian Navy's GSAT-7R (CMS-03) communication satellite on Sunday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota calling it a "grand successful mission".

Speaking to ANI, he said, "It is a grand successful mission... It is a communication satellite of India's CMS-03, the heaviest communication satellite, a 4,410 kg satellite. It is lifted successfully by the Baahubali rocket LVM-3 and placed precisely in the intended orbit within the specification in the GTO.... This satellite will enhance the communication capability of Bharat in the coming years."

The indigenously designed and developed satellite would strengthen the Navy's space-based communications and maritime domain awareness capabilities.

GSAT-7R will provide robust telecommunication coverage across the Indian Ocean Region. Its payload includes transponders capable of supporting voice, data, and video links over multiple communication bands. This satellite will significantly enhance connectivity with high-capacity bandwidth, enabling seamless and secure communication links between ships, aircraft, submarines, and Maritime Operations Centres of the Indian Navy.

‘Yet Another Shiny Example of Aatmanirbhar Bharat’: ISRO Chief V Narayanan

On the launch of ISRO’s LVM3-M5 carrying the CMS-03 communication satellite, ISRO Chief V Narayanan said, “The CMS-03 satellite is a multi-band communication satellite with coverage over a wide oceanic region, including the Indian landmass, and is designed for providing communication services for at least 15 years. The satellite incorporates a host of new technologies and yet another shiny example of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Let me congratulate the entire satellite team spread across various ISRO centres for realising this important, complex satellite for the communication capability of our country.”

Speaking of the challenges faced by the team during the launch, he said, “We had a tough and challenging time during the launch campaign. The weather was not that cooperative. But then let me take this opportunity to compliment each and every one of you, even under this difficult weather condition, we could come out successfully and accomplish this mission in a grand and successful manner…”

He also made an announcement of an important experiment that was carried out by the ISRO team for the launch.

"I would also like to announce an important experiment that we have carried out. The indigenously developed C-25 cryogenic stage. For the first time, we have, after successfully injecting the satellite into orbit and reorienting the stage, successfully ignited the thrust chamber... This is going to be a great  experiment, which is going to feed data for restarting the cryogenic stage in future  for enabling  the mission flexibility for placing multiple satellites in various orbits using the  Bahubali rocket  LVM-3," he said.

Giving an update on the launch, Narayanan said, "The capability of this GSLV launcher is around 4000 kg to GTO and for the first time we have lifted 4410 kg to an elliptical orbit... It has performed extremely well, and this is the eighth launch of the LBM-3 vehicle. All the launches of the LBM-3 vehicle have been successfully accomplished by ISRO, and it is a 100% reliable vehicle. The same vehicle is also earmarked for taking our Gaganyatri-2 space also... Right now, the satellite is healthy. All the propulsion system valves and isolation valves are opened, and the satellite is healthy..."

ISRO's Future Plans

Revealing ISRO's future plans, ISRO chief Narayanan said, "There are a lot of important activities going on. One is the Gaganyaan activity. We are also working towards the first uncrewed mission... Another is the rocket, fabricated by an industry consortium at the direction of our Prime Minister. The first rocket is ready..."

"We will conduct a commercial launch of a communication satellite for another country using our LVM-3 vehicle. Then, a couple of important technology demonstration satellites... SSLV, using that, we are planning a launch. Our hands are totally full. In five months, we are targeting seven launches; you can understand the scale of work our team has to do... ISRO team will accomplish all these... It is a proud moment when the Prime Minister congratulates ISRO," he added.

About the CMS-03 Satellite

CMS-03 is a multi-band communication satellite that will provide services over a wide oceanic region including the Indian landmass, according to ISRO.

The satellite has been launched by the famous LVM3 launch vehicle, which landed India successfully on the lunar South Pole in the Chandrayaan-3 mission. This is the vehicle's fifth operational flight.

The launch vehicle had been assembled earlier and has been on the launch pad since October 26 for pre-launch operations.

The launch vehicle has a height of 43.5 meters, having a lift off mass of 642 tonnes total. The vehicle uses three stages of propellants to enable the satellite to reach the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

Also Read: ‘India’s Bahubali Scales the Skies’: ISRO Launches India's Heaviest Communication Satellite CMS-03 From Sriharikota