Indian Army's first dedicated communications satellite by 2028

The Indian Army, it is set to get its first dedicated military communications satellite. The satellite will provide secure communications between military formations, and that includes troops that have been deployed in remote border regions. But the launch of this satellite has reportedly been delayed by six months. And this is a report by the Hindustan Times. It suggests that the five-ton GSAT-7B is now expected to be launched by mid-2028. The satellite is being developed by ISRO, Indian Space Research Organization, for the Indian Army. The satellite is part of a project which has been valued at around 3,000 crore rupees. The contract was signed with New Space India Limited, NSIL, in March 2023. Now, this satellite, GSAT-7B, it is expected to provide the Indian Army with secure, beyond line-of-sight communications. It is expected to support communications between command headquarters, troops that have been deployed in remote regions, and military systems. It will also allow Army formations to exchange information across large distances without depending on any ground-based communication networks. So unlike the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force, the Indian Army does not currently have its own dedicated communication satellite. It relies on existing satellite infrastructure, and that includes the Indian Air Force GSAT-7A. So a dedicated satellite would particularly be important for the Indian Army operating in the Himalayan border regions, the treacherous regions in the higher north where the terrain causes limitations. The launch of GSAT-7B has now reportedly slipped by around six months due to technical reasons, as per reports.