Thursday’s successful launch of the GSAT-6 satellite by GSLV-D6, earning the launcher the “operational rocket” tag, will signal joint collaboration between India’s ISRO and NASA of the United States.
NASA ISRO SAR Mission (NISAR) is expected to be launched on board GSLV-D6 in 2020-21, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said, adding NISAR would be optimised for studying hazards and global environment change. Answering a query, a senior ISRO scientist said that using India’s GSLV and not going for space agencies abroad for launching satellites weighing up to 2 tonne would help save on foreign exchange. “GSLV will cost just one third of the cost we have to spend on foreign agencies,” he said.
Mr. Kumar said that GSLV cannot be compared to PSLV for commercial purposes as both have been assigned intended payload capabilities. “GSLV is also a good candidate for commercial payloads,” he said.
A senior official said that there were about 10 Indian satellites which were lined up to be launched on board GSLV -D6.
