The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has leased all the 24 transponders of the newly launched INSAT-4A satellite to Tata Sky for launching its direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast services from next year.

The three-tonne INSAT-4A launched Thursday from Kourou, French Guiana, on board Ariane-5G of Arianespace, has 12 Ku band and 12 C band transponders.

After reaching its final slot in the geo-stationary orbit at 36,000 km above earth in the coming days, the Rs.2-billion satellite will become fully operational from February 2006. It has a lifespan of 12 years.

"All the 24 transponders of INSAT 4A have been leased to Tata Sky for its DTH services. We will soon be opening our bookings for INSAT 4B, scheduled for launch in the second half of 2006. It will also have 24 transponders, including 12 in Ku band and 12 in C-band," a top ISRO official told.

"The transponders in INSAT 4B will be utilised for telecommunications, VSAT (very small aperture terminal) services, and broadcasting, including DTH services," he said.

As a joint venture of Tata Sons and Rupert Murdoch-controlled STAR group, Tata Sky plans to offer a bouquet of 150 digital channels on the DTH platform across the country from mid-2006. The ambitious DTH project is estimated to cost about $500 million upfront.

According to sources in Antrix Corporation, the commercial agency of ISRO, the leasing of 24 transponders to Tata Sky will generate about Rs.500 million to Rs.1 billion annually to the Indian space agency.

Currently, the state-owned Doordarshan (DD) and Zee group use NSS satellite transponders of the Netherlands for their DTH services. The Chennai-based Sun group plans to use the DTH platform to offer its bouquet of channels digitally in the near future.

Signalling its foray into commercial operations in a big way, ISRO has started building its communication satellites, which are not only advanced and powerful but also heavier to offer as many transponders to public and private operators in India and abroad.

With the successful launch of INSAT 4A, the total number of transponders in the INSAT series will increase to 174 from current 150 and to 198 by the end of 2006, with the addition of 24 transponders from INSAT 4B.

The C band transponders, with their footprints extending from Europe to Australia, will offer a host of business opportunities to telecos, TV channels and global enterprises.

Once the indigenously built Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLV) Mark 2 are brought into use to launch the remaining three-to-five satellites in the INSAT 4 series from its launchpad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, ISRO plans to market its transponders in the global market after meeting the requirements of the domestic users.

"We plan to launch INSAT 4C, INSAT 4D and INSAT 4E with our own launchers (GSLV) using homemade cryogenic engines. Indigenously built satellites and launch vehicles will give us a competitive advantage over Astra (European) and Panamsat (American) in the global market with our cost-effective offerings," the official disclosed.

ISRO had already launched two experimental satellites (GSLV-D1 and D2) in the geo-stationary orbit by using the indigenous GSLVs with Russian-made cryogenic engines between 2001-2003.

As against the launch cost of Rs.2.25 billion on board Ariane-5, the launch of INSAT 4C and other heavier satellites in the INSAT 4 series on board GSLV is expected to be about 40-50 percent lower. Even the cost of making INSAT 4A satellite at Rs.2 billion is much cheaper than those designed and fabricated in other countries.