GSAT-11 called back for tests to be on the safe side: ISRO Chairman
Chennai, April 25: The Indian space agency has recalled its communication satellite GSAT-11 from Arianespace's rocket port in French Guiana for further tests, to be on the safe side, said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Sivan on Wednesday.
"We are bringing back the GSAT-11 satellite to carry out some tests to be doubly sure of its performance orbiting in the space. There is nothing more to it," Sivan told IANS.
He said the satellite is expected to be back in India on April 5 or 6, and after the tests and checks, GSAT-11 can be back in Ariancespace's rocket port in Kourou.
"Due to additional technical checks with the Indian Space Research Organisation's GSAT-11 satellite, to be conducted from the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) located in Bengaluru, the Ariane 5 launch initially planned for May 25, VA243, has been postponed," Arianespace had said.
The GSAT-11 was planned to be launched mid May. The satellite had reached Arianespace's rocket port in March.
GSAT-11 was designed, assembled and integrated by the ISRO, and will have an estimated lift-off mass of 5,870 kg.
This advanced communications satellite is to provide multi-spot beam coverage over the Indian mainland and nearby islands, bringing significant advantages to the user community when compared with India's existing INSAT/GSAT satellite systems, Arianespace said earlier in a statement.
With its new system architecture and cutting-edge technology elements, GSAT-11 will generate a capacity of more than 12 Gbps for users from a single platform, the statement added.
The ISRO's move to call back GSAT-11 for further tests and be doubly sure of its performance may be due to the loss of the recently launched GSAT-6A satellite, soon after it was put into orbit on March 29.
ISRO suspects the failure of the power systems in the satellite for the loss of communication link.
"The satellites are powered by solar panels that charge the onboard batteries. The batteries are fully charged when the satellite is loaded on to the rocket.
"Even if there is a problem with the solar panel, then the battery power should have kicked in. Here the entire power system of the satellite seems to have failed," one space expert told IANS earlier.
According to experts, the power system could have failed due to some short circuiting or arcing resulting in what is known in the space terminology 'loss of lock' or loss of contact with the ground station.
Satellites in space are locked to ground stations for tracking and other purposes.
On March 29, Indian rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) slung GSAT-6A in its intended orbit. From there the satellite was to be taken up further to its orbital slot by firing its onboard motors.
The first orbit raising operation was successfully carried out by firing the onboard motors for around 36 minutes on March 30 morning.
The second orbit raising operation of GSAT-6A satellite was also successful as its motors was fired for about 53 minutes on March 31.
After that, the communication link got snapped.
Industry experts also said there has been instances where communication link with satellites got reestablished after a break of couple of days.
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US President Donald Trump announces 27 percent reciprocal tariff on India
Washington/New Delhi (PTI): The US has announced 27 percent reciprocal tariffs on India saying New Delhi imposes high import duties on American goods, as the Donald Trump administration aims to reduce the country's trade deficit and boost manufacturing.
The move is expected to impact India's exports to the US. However, experts say that India is better-placed than its competitors who also face increased levies.
President Trump, in a historic measure to counter higher duties on American products imposed globally, announced reciprocal tariffs on about 60 countries.
"This is Liberation Day, a long-awaited moment. April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again. We are going to make it wealthy, good, and wealthy," Trump said in his remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House on Wednesday.
He said that the United States charges other countries only a 2.4 percent tariff on motorcycles, but Thailand and others are charging much higher rates, like 60 percent, India 70 percent, Vietnam 75 percent, and others charge even higher rates.
As he announced the tariffs, he held up a chart that showed the tariffs that countries such as India, China, the UK, and the European Union charge, along with the reciprocal tariffs that these countries will now have to pay.
The chart indicated that India charged 52 percent tariffs, including currency manipulation and trade barriers, and America would now charge India a discounted reciprocal tariff of 26 percent. But according to the White House documents, there will be a 27 percent duty on India.
"India, very, very tough. Very, very tough. The prime minister just left. He's a great friend of mine, but I said, you're a friend of mine, but you're not treating us right. They charge us 52 percent. You have to understand, we charge them almost nothing for years and years and decades, and it was only seven years ago, when I came in, that we started with China," Trump said.
Describing the tariffs as a "mixed bag and not a set back", an official in India said the commerce ministry is analysing the impact of 27 percent reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US on India.
According to the official, the universal 10 percent tariffs will come into effect on all imports into the US from April 5 and from April 10, 27 per cent duty will come into play.
"The ministry is analysing the impact of the announced tariffs," the official said, adding there is a provision that if a country would address the concerns of the US, the Trump administration can consider reducing the duties against that nation.
India is already negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US. The two countries are aiming to finalise the first phase of the pact by fall (September-October) of this year.
"It is a mixed bag and not a setback for India," the official said.
Exporters' body FIEO stated that the duties on India will undoubtedly affect domestic players but early conclusion of the trade agreement would provide relief from these tariffs.
"We have to assess the impact, but looking at the reciprocal tariffs imposed on other countries, we are in a lower band. We are much better placed compared to our key competitors such as Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, etc. We will definitely be affected by the tariffs, but we are much better placed than many others," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai told PTI.
From 2021-22 to 2023-24, the US was India's largest trading partner. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in bilateral trade.
With America, India had a trade surplus (the difference between imports and exports) of USD 35.32 billion in goods in 2023-24. This was USD 27.7 billion in 2022-23, USD 32.85 billion in 2021-22, USD 22.73 billion in 2020-21, and USD 17.26 billion in 2019-20.
In 2024, India's main exports to the US included drug formulations and biologicals (USD 8.1 billion), telecom instruments (USD 6.5 billion), precious and semi-precious stones (USD 5.3 billion), petroleum products (USD 4.1 billion), gold and other precious metal jewellery (USD 3.2 billion), ready-made garments of cotton, including accessories (USD 2.8 billion), and products of iron and steel (USD 2.7 billion).
Imports included crude oil (USD 4.5 billion), petroleum products (USD 3.6 billion), coal, coke (USD 3.4 billion), cut and polished diamonds (USD 2.6 billion), electric machinery (USD 1.4 billion), aircraft, spacecraft and parts (USD 1.3 billion), and gold (USD 1.3 billion).
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