ISRO to Launch GSAT-7R Military Communication Satellite for Indian Navy on November 2

India will orbit its military communication satellite for the country’s Navy with its heavy lift rocket LVM3 on November 2, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said today.

The satellite GSAT-7R or CMS-03, weighing 4.4 ton, will be the replacement for the 2.65 ton GSAT-7 or Rukmini that was launched in 2013 by Arianespace’s rocket Ariane.

ISRO said CMS-03 is a multi-band communication satellite that will provide services over a wide oceanic region including the Indian landmass. It will be the heaviest communication satellite to be launched to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) from Indian soil.

LVM3-M5 will be the fifth operational flight of the heavy lift launch vehicle. The previous mission of LVM3 launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission, where India became the first country to land successfully near the lunar south pole.

The launch vehicle has been fully assembled and integrated with the spacecraft and has been moved to the Launch Pad on October 26, 2025 for further pre-launch operations, ISRO said.

ISRO had earlier launched the GSAT-7A satellite for the Indian Air Force (IAF). The GSAT-7 and GSAT-7A remain India’s two dedicated military communication satellites, while all previous earth observation and communication satellites served dual purposes—supporting both civilian and defence applications.

The upcoming GSAT-7R satellite will replace GSAT-7.

Addressing the media on Thursday, ISRO Chairman and Secretary of the Department of Space, Dr. V. Narayanan, announced that India’s LVM3 rocket is scheduled to launch the GSAT-7R communication satellite in early November.

Following that mission, another LVM3 rocket will launch the BlueBird 6 satellite for the US-based cellular broadband company AST SpaceMobile. Weighing around 6,500 kg (6.5 tons), BlueBird 6 will be launched either in December this year or January next year, with the exact date yet to be finalized. The satellite has already arrived in India.

Narayanan also stated that NISAR, the world’s most expensive Earth observation satellite and a joint Indo-US mission, is expected to become operational within two to three weeks.

He further mentioned that India’s regional navigation system, NavIC, will be fully completed with the launch of three additional satellites over the next 18 months.

Regarding India’s human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, Narayanan confirmed that about 90% of the critical technologies have already been developed. The first crewed flight is planned for 2027, preceded by three uncrewed test missions.