NEW DELHI: The Navy will get its second dedicated communication-cum-surveillance satellite by 2022 to keep tabs on the critical Indian Ocean Region and network all its warships, submarines and aircraft with operational centres ashore.Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and Navy inked a Rs 1,589 crore contract last month for the new satellite called Gsat-7R, which will supplement the orbiting Gsat-7 or "Rukmini" geostationary naval satellite launched in August 2013. The development comes shortly after the space agency launched a dedicated satellite for the Indian Air Force in December last year.With the increase in hostilities along the borders, Isro had recently launched a slew of military satellites like DRDO’s Emisat with radar-detecting capability and reconnaissance satellite Risat-2B to boost surveillance capabilities of the security forces. It will also launch over half-a-dozen earth observation satellites in next one year to boost the space surveillance capabilities of the armed forces.“Isro recently received an order from the Navy for building the new dedicated Gsat-7-Repeat or Gsat-7R. It will be a replacement for Gsat-7,” a source in Isro told TOI. Like Gsat-7, the new multi-band satellite will operate from the geo-stationary orbit at 36,000km altitude and provide real-time inputs to naval warships, submarines and maritime aircraft and boost networking capabilities of its naval assets on the high seas.With the help of shore-based operational centres, the Gsat-7 has not only helped the Navy keep an eye on hostile vessels in both the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, but also helped the force increase its communication and surveillance capabilities from Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait, which together is equivalent to almost 70% of the Indian Ocean Region. With increased Chinese naval activities in the IOR, the satellite is also helping monitor the ‘dragon’ at sea.Gsat-7 has given the Navy an integrated platform and helped it overcome the limitation of ‘line of sight’ (the straight path of signal when unobstructed by the horizon). With the help of this ‘eye in the sky’, the Army has also been getting vital inputs about over-the-land movements.Before Gsat-7 was launched in 2013, the Navy had to depend on Inmarsat, a major provider of global mobile satellite communication services, for communication among its warships. However, Rukmini had reduced the Navy’s dependence on foreign services.In December last year, Isro had launched a dedicated satellite Gsat-7A for the IAF, which has enabled the air force to interlink different ground radar stations, airbases and AWACS aircraft. It has boosted the IAF’s network-centric warfare capabilities and enhanced its global operations.