New Delhi: The Defence Ministry on Tuesday approved the procurement of GSAT-7C satellite and ground hubs worth Rs 2,236 crore for the Indian Air Force for real-time connectivity of software defined radios.

The complete design, development and launching of satellite will be in India, and it will enhance the ability of Armed Forces to communicate beyond the line of sight, the ministry said.

The decision was taken during Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting held under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

During the meeting, it was accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for one Capital Acquisition proposal of Indian Air Force for its modernisation and operational needs amounting to Rs 2,236 crore under the category of ‘Make in India’.

The procurement proposal of Air Force was for GSAT-7C satellite and ground hubs for real-time connectivity of software defined radios (SDRs).

Induction of GSAT-7C satellite and ground hubs for software defined radios (SDRs) will enhance the ability of Armed Forces to communicate among one another in all circumstances in a secure mode.

SAT-7A is the latest addition to the GSAT series of geosynchronous communications satellites designed and manufactured by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

It will enhance the Air Force’s global operations and network-centric warfare capabilities.

GSAT-7A spacecraft is configured on ISRO’s standard I-2000 kg (I-2K) Bus. The satellite is built to provide communication capability to the users in Ku-band over the Indian region.

ISRO had launched first GSAT-7A on December 19, 2018. At present, the satellite is placed in an orbit with a perigee (nearest point to earth) of 35,800 km and Apogee (farthest point to earth) of 36,092 km with 0.2 deg inclination which is very close to the its final orbit, the ISRO said.