INSAT Programme

India's Indian National Satellite programme provides multipurpose geostationary satellite infrastructure for telecommunications, television broadcasting, meteorology, education, disaster warning, and search-and-rescue services. The operational INSAT system was established with the commissioning of INSAT-1B in 1983, building a national communications capability through successive spacecraft and their service payloads. Its scope includes societal applications and information distribution as well as satellite development and operation, so the programme is broader than an individual INSAT mission or spacecraft design.