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Madhumathi D.S.

Bangalore , Sept. 30

INSAT-3E, the latest Indian satellite in space since Sunday, is expected to make the national space agency self-sufficient in transponder capacity.

Once it is put to work, it will free ISRO from the lease of 23 transponders on two foreign satellites and save it an outgo of $20-23 million in the process, according to official sources. They expect Insat-3E to become operational around October 10.

ISRO has been leasing capacity on Thaicom-3 almost at a stretch since 1998, after it lost Insat-2D in orbit. This lease alone has been costing it some $9 million a year.

When 3A entered service around May this year, ISRO returned three of the 10 transponders to the operator, Shin Satellite.

Likewise, the space agency would also be shortly reviewing the temporary Intelsat back-up that it went in for in February this year.

It leased 16 C-band transponders on Intelsat's IS 702 and may soon feel comfortable enough to return them by November "if everything goes well".

The new bird with 36 transponders will primarily replace 2DT, which was bought in-orbit from Arabsat in 1998. It would take the transponder tally to 120. This excludes the 11 leased to Intelsat for 10 years on Insat-2E, its 1999 satellite.

Meanwhile, 3E will only raise the C-band capacity; it has no Ku band payload.

The more powerful Ku band will still be wanting until the fourth-generation Insats take off next year. Currently, ISRO has six Ku band transponders on 3A and three on 3B, all fully booked. The demand by broadband users grew so much that in 2001 ISRO had to lease three Ku band transponders for three years on the US satellite, GE-1A. The story is different as the users are paying for the lease of GE-1A, according to officials.

There is a growing demand for the Ku band from broadband users, mainly VSATs and DTH broadcasters. Major operators like Agrani, Doordarshan and STAR are getting ready to launch big DTH activities.

The domestic Ku scene will change dramatically with Insat-4A and 4B, slated for late 2004 and 2005. Each of these will have 12 Ku transponders that can provide good DTH quality service.

For now, 3E is undergoing orbit manoeuvres.

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