India’s Most Advanced Satellite Launch From US Is Elon Musk’s ‘Trump’ Card

SpaceX, the company owned by ‘The First Buddy’ of US President-elect Donald Trump, is the first big beneficiary of a multi-million dollar deal inked by India’s space agency. Early next week, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will take India’s most modern communications satellite GSAT-20, also called GSAT N-2, into orbit.

This is the first of many commercial engagements the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has with SpaceX. While some say ISRO and SpaceX are competitors for low-cost launches, in the global commercial space market no one doubts that SpaceX is way-way ahead.

It is well-known that Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi share a great bond with each calling the other “my friend”. The maverick entrepreneur Elon Musk is also friends with both of them, with Elon Musk saying he is “a fan of Modi”. The optics and timing of the space launch are just right, but incidentally the deals predate the American election results, and hence the critics of either Washington DC or New Delhi cannot raise “crony capitalism”.

The GSAT-N2 will be launched from Cape Canaveral in the US. Made by ISRO, this 4,700 kg satellite was too heavy for Indian rockets to carry, hence the foreign commercial launch. India’s own rocket ‘The Bahubali’ or the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 could have at best lifted a maximum of about 4,000-4,100 kg into a geostationary transfer orbit.

India had till now leaned on Arianespace to launch its heavy satellites, but at present it does not have any operational rockets and the only reliable option India had was to go with SpaceX. Chinese rockets are a no-go for India, and Russia is not able to offer its rockets for commercial launches due to the conflict in Ukraine.

“We got a good deal on this maiden launch with SpaceX,” Radhakrishnan Durairaj, Chairman and Managing Director of New Space India Ltd (NSIL), the Bengaluru-based commercial arm of ISRO, told NDTV.

“The price for launching this particular satellite… the technical compatibility and also the commercial deals… I would say it was a good deal for us, for launching such a heavy satellite on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket,” he said.

ISRO made GSAT-N2, with a lift-off mass of 4,700 kg, and has a mission life of 14 years. It is a purely commercial launch being front-ended by NSIL. The satellite is equipped with 32 user beams, comprising eight narrow spot beams over the northeast region and 24 wide spot beams over the rest of India. These 32 beams will be supported by hub stations located within mainland India. It will also help enable in-flight Internet connectivity.

Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Donald Trump had announced on Wednesday, according to news agency ANI.

Elon Musk, a fan of PM Modi, during a meeting with the Prime Minister on June 21, 2023 had said, “I’m incredibly excited about the future of India. India has more promise than any large country in the world. He (PM Modi) really cares about India as he’s pushing us to make significant investments in India. I am a fan of Modi. It was a fantastic meeting and I like him quite a lot.”

It is estimated that this single dedicated commercial launch of the Falcon 9 rocket to lift India’s communications satellite will cost $60-70 million.

Over the last few months, the Tesla chief has been asking India to grant SpaceX licence to sell satellite-based Internet services in India using its Starlink Constellation. “I look forward to bringing Starlink to India where it will help remote villages,” Elon Musk said in June 2023.

This week, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Elon Musk-owned Starlink is yet to comply with security norms, and a licence for satellite communications services will be issued only after they meet all the requirements for services in India. The satellite communication services major is in the process of completing all the requirements and will get a licence once they complete the process, the minister added.

“We are more than happy to give them (licence) if they (Starlink) comply with all the conditions. You have to look at it from a security perspective, making sure that all security concerns are addressed. When they do that we will be more than happy to give it. Obviously, they are in the process of doing it,” Mr Scindia said.

India has also inked another commercial deal with the Houston-based company Axiom Space to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station on-board the SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon human space flight system. That deal is expected to cost $60 million. Earnings by SpaceX from the mission to send the astronaut could be much lower as four astronauts are sharing the flight.