The  India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F09) carrying GSAT-9 communications satellite (south Asia Satellite) was  released  from  Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota, India on Friday. The satellite has been developed and funded entirely by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The Indian side has so far offered to provide at least one transponder with a bandwidth of 24,000 to 36,000 MHz, for which Nepal has to set up hub stations at several places.

The South Asia satellite, has been Launched with an aim to interlink the South Asian countries through telecommunication and broadcasting services. The SAARC initiative  has been seen faciliatting countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives who have signed up to make use of the satellite where as  Pakistan has opted out of the league.

During the 8th SAARC Summit, Indian Prime Minister Modi had pledged to launch the SAARC satellite for the benift of the region offering participating countries television services and communications technology for bank ATMs and e-governance, and  cellular networks, especially in places where the terrestrial connectivity is weak.