'Heaviest satellite built by India'; ISRO successfully launches satellite CMS-03 from Sriharikota

SRIHARIKOTA: India launched the heaviest satellite, CMS-03, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.26 pm on Sunday. This is the fifth mission of the LMV 3 M 5 rocket, as the satellite will be riding piggyback on the LVM3 rocket.

CMS-03 is India’s heaviest communication satellite to date, weighing approximately 4,400 kg, and includes many indigenous state-of-the-art components developed specifically to meet the Indian Navy’s operational requirements

LVM3 was used earlier to launch the path-breaking Chandrayaan 3. This is the first time that ISRO has launched such a heavy satellite from India. With this launch, India will be able to use indigenous defence communication without depending on foreign satellites. Therefore, the mission is extremely crucial for national security. The Indian subcontinent and the surrounding oceans will be under surveillance. The satellite has a life of 15 years.

Communication Satellite 03 (CMS-03) was built after the expiry of the first military communication satellite, GSAT-7. CMS-03 will be used mainly for the service of the Navy. It has more advanced systems than those available in GSAT-7. UHF, SCKU, band transponders enable high-capacity data transfer, and the satellite can transmit video only to specific centres in addition to voice and data. Considering the unexpected failures of the NVS-2 and EOS-9 launches conducted this year, extensive preparations were made in Sriharikota.