NEW DELHI: A new Indian satellite will be launched by the end of the year to augment the C-Band capability, according to Antrix business development director R Parameswaran.

Parameswaran said this will increase the transponder capacity and help the Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) programme.
 
He expected more satellites to be launched in the first and second quarter of next year and said this would vastly increase transponder availability by 2011-12.

In a conversation with indiantelevision.com founder and CEO Anil Wanvari in the concluding session of the India Digital Networks Summit, Parameswaran said Antrix was conscious that there was huge demand for transponder space with DTH and broadband on the rise. 
 
He said new technologies were also being tried out to augment capacity. Antrix was also trying to get into the international market and already had around 35 satisfied parties for whom launch vehicles and satellites had been built.

Answering a question, he said policy issues did not fall within the ambit of Antrix but he would convey to the Government the anxieties of the television industry that there were delays because the media was not represented on any telecom body.

As the commercial & marketing arm of Indian Space Research Organization (Isro), Antrix is engaged in providing space products & services to international customers worldwide.

Antrix, which is a Rs 9.5 billion company, got the "Mini-ratna" status by the Central Government in 2008.