(20 August 2007 9:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is all set to launch the communication satellite Insat-4CR from Sriharikota on 1 September.

"Insat-4CR will be launched at 4:30 pm on 1 September, subject to weather conditions," a senior Isro official tells Indiantelevision.com.

The launch of Insat-4CR, which carries 12 high-power Ku-band transponders, will boost the direct-to-home (DTH) sector in India with players like Reliance ADAG (Bluemagic) and Bharti waiting in the wings to launch their services.

As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Isro chairman Madhavan Nair had said that the current scheduled launches of the Insat series was sufficient to meet with the present requirements of television companies.

Insat-4CR is a replacement to Insat-4C, which had an unsuccessful launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in July last year.

Reliance has shown interest in taking Ku-band transponder space on Measat-3. If Isro clears Measat for the Indian DTH operators, then Bharti is likely to get Insat-4CR satellite.

Bharti Telemedia, the company which will operate Bharti's DTH operations, has received the Letter of Intent from the Information and Broadcasting ministry. The company has said that it would launch the DTH services by the last quarter of FY 2007-08.