Musk's SpaceX To Launch Tonight ISRO's Advanced Satellite For Enabling In-Flight Internet

Named GSAT N-2 or GSAT 20, the 4,700 kg fully commercial satellite will be launched from Space Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

At the stroke of midnight on Tuesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s most sophisticated communications satellite, which will provide broadband services in remote areas and in-flight Internet in passenger aircraft, will set off for its 34-minute journey into outer space onboard Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

Named GSAT N-2 or GSAT 20, the 4,700 kg fully commercial satellite will be launched from Space Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The launch pad has been hired by SpaceX from the US' Space Force, a special branch of the country's armed forces that was created in 2019 to secure its space assets. The mission life of GSAT-N2 is 14 years.

The launch will be broadcast on SpaceX's account on X. The countdown will commence at 11.46pm on Monday and the lift-off will begin at 12.01 am on Tuesday. In case the launch is interrupted for any reason, it will take place at 3.03 pm on Tuesday. The launch window (within which the launch has to be completed, else the next window is utilised) is roughly one hour and 50 minutes.