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As per media reports, soon India will be able to provide satellite phone (satphone) services with its own dedicated satellite and will not have to depend upon foreign satellites.

Next year, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) would be unveiling a satellite, which will carry a large S-band transponder to aid India provide its own signals for satellite phones.

G Madhavan Nair, former Indian space agency chairman, informed on the sidelines of the India Semiconductor Association's (ISA's) Vision Summit on Monday, "We are in the process of building a high-beam antenna which will be deployed on board a satellite for providing satellite phone services using S-band transponder."

The antenna that will be positioned on the spacecraft for dedicated satphone services has already been designed by ISRO. After the launch of the satellite, India will become a prominent player in use of satellite phones and this might also help bring down the cost of satellite phone services.

A constellation of geo-stationary satellites designed to provide phone, fax and data communications are operated by International Maritime Satellite Organization
(INMARSAT) via handheld devices across the world.

When Nair was questioned about the weaponization of space programme which have been launched by countries like China, Nair said that successful measures were being adopted to safeguard the country's space assets. Recently, China developed an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon.