India is soon building a spacecraft for mobile applications that will enable use of satellite phones without any dependence on the foreign operators.
Former ISRO Chairman G.Madhavan Nair said at the recently concluded India Semiconductor Association’s Vision Summit “We are yet to make an impact on satellite-based mobile communication. But again there are plans to evolve such systems. Designs are now being evolved. ISRO is currently in the process of building the satellite”.
“We are in the process of building a high-beam antenna to be deployed on board a satellite for providing satellite phone (satphone) services using S-band transponder. Maybe in a year or two, the satellite will be up and then we can connect and manage all the handheld devices” Nair said.
Mr Nair added “Currently, some foreign satellites are being used for satphone services in the country but development work is now going on to synthesize the antenna and it will be deployed in one of the communication satellites with S-band transponder”.
INMARSAT (International Maritime Satellite Organisation) operates a constellation of geo-stationary satellites designed to extend phone, fax and data communications the world over through handheld devices.