NEW DELHI: In keeping with the ongoing advances in the military use of space, the Army now wants a small communication satellite for training its students from the Corps of Signals at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE) at Dr Ambedkar Nagar in Madhya Pradesh reports Rajath Pandit of Times of India.

The Army on Thursday issued a request for information (RFI) to Indian companies for designing, developing and fabricating the communication satellite, which will be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of ISRO.

“Communication Satellites are used by advanced militaries, including the Indian Army, to provide ubiquitous communication coverage, including to remotest of the locations. They also provide a reliable redundancy to our existing communication infrastructure,” the RFI said, while specifying the various technical parameters of the satellite.

“The MCTE is planning to launch a small form factor student satellite with communication payload for training purpose as we need to train our officers on various aspects of space technology in general and about satellite communication in specific,” it added.

The project will include satellite link planning, satellite design, communication payload design, fabrication, assembly and testing of electrical and mechanical systems of a satellite.

“It will also include establishment and operation of an earth station, accessing, monitoring and controlling of the satellite to ensure we have a pool of trained manpower available to take on the requirement of planning and providing satellite communication for future,” it said.

The armed forces have a few dedicated satellites like the GSAT-7 for the Navy and GSAT-7A for the IAF. The defence ministry in November last year had also approved the Rs 2,236 core project to launch the GSAT-7C satellite for the IAF, while also giving the nod in March this year for the Rs 4,600 crore project for a GSAT-7B satellite for the Army, as was reported by TOI.