To Keep its Waters Secured, India Replaces its Aging Satellite with new GSAT-7R

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has on Sunday launched its Navy’s most advanced communication satellite, named GSAT-7R with the help of its rocket LVM3. The GSAT-7R is said to weigh 4,400 kg, which makes it the heaviest communication satellite launched from India so far.

The satellite will provide Indian Navy with a secured telecom coverage in the Indian Ocean.

The GSAT-7R satellite replaces the aging GSAT-7 satellite, which had been in service since 2013, with upgraded payloads and enhanced capabilities for a planned mission life of 15 years.

The more sophisticated new satellite provides secure, high-capacity bandwidth for voice, data, and video links, which are often encrypted and anti-jamming for military use. It also ensures seamless and uninterrupted communication links between the Navy's various assets, including ships, submarines, aircraft, and land-based Maritime Operations Centres.

India has a long coastline and a vast oceanic area extending upto 2,000 kilometres from the country’s coastline.

Ancient India had been in trade association with ancient Rome, and later it was this very sea route that led colonial powers of Europe to Indian sub-continent for trade, which eventually ended in colonization.

India is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south, the Arabian Sea to the west, and the Bay of Bengal to the east.

India's naval strategy aims at preventing any single, more powerful nation from dominating the Indian Ocean Region.

Main aim, however, has been countering China's expanding naval presence and influence in the region, which is a major focus for India due to the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean Region for trade and energy security. As India is an energy importing nation, it wants to ensure safety and security in its water territories.