Bengaluru: It was, quite literally, a sugared deal offered by Brazil in the 1990s for manufacture and launch of a satellite which was turned down by Isro, but on Friday evening, Indian space scientists will gift a satellite to six Saarc nations and fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise.
Short of resources but flush with sugar, Brazil offered to pay with the sweetener for a satellite similar to the one scheduled for launch by Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) tomorrow, but as Prof U.R. Rao, former Isro chairman, said the space agency said thanks, but no, thanks, because he explained “inter-ministerial approvals are very difficult in India.” The upshot: China agreed to such a deal and gained because follow up orders for more satellites arrived from Brazil.
This satellite will catapult India’s diplomatic skills to unchartered trajectory and perhaps help counter China’s growing influence over its neighbours in the long run. With its footprint across South Asia, the new satellite GSAT-9 or “South Asia Satellite’ will catalyze economic development and governance in six Saarc nations.
