Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), July 15 (IANS) A woman scientist is responsible for the successful functioning of India's latest communication satellite GSAT-12, launched Friday from the space port here, 80 km north of Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai.



T.K. Anuradha, the first woman ever to be the satellite project director at the country's space agency, specialises in satellite checkout systems - electronic checking of satellite's performance in space, an ISRO official told IANS.

Anuradha, in her 50s, has been with the Indian Space Research Organisation for three decades now, the official said. She heads the GSAT-12 project at the ISRO Space Centre at Bangalore.

The Rs.80 crore GSAT-12 has 12 extended C-band transponders - automatic receivers and transmitters for communication and broadcast of signals.

The satellite with a life span of about eight years will augment transponder capacity of the Indian National Satellite (Insat) system. It is also expected to serve the Very Small Aperture Terminal (V-SAT) sector. VSATs are used to transmit data like point of sale transactions or to provide satellite internet access.

It will also be useful for various communication services like tele-education, tele-medicine and for village resource centres.