Tense relationship

While some have suggested Pakistan may have pulled out due to espionage concerns, Ajay Lele, a senior analyst at the Delhi-based Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis said "in modern times, you do not develop a satellite to spy on a country."

But N. Sathiya Moorthy, a regional director at the Observer Research Foundation, said India should "do everything to ensure that policy makers (in Pakistan) remain convinced that it is nothing more than what India says it is."

Lele said Pakistan's backing out is a missed opportunity for Islamabad. "Problems on earth shouldn't affect relationships in outer space," he said.

Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the country was initially "keen to participate in the project."

"However, as India was not willing to develop the project on a collaborative basis, it was not possible for Pakistan to support it as a regional project under the umbrella of SAARC," he added.

He dismissed speculation over espionage concerns as "unfounded."

Space diplomacy

The satellite's launch is seen by many as a move by India to cement its big brother role in the region and improve relations with its neighbors, Pakistan aside.

"India has done satellite launches for countries commercially but never utilized them as a foreign policy tool. Space is no more just a science and technology domain -- it is being seen from a strategic and foreign policy perspective," said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, head of the Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation.

"Space is emerging as a domain where you can see increasing competition between India and China. For China, reaching out to South Asia is a way of keeping India under check," said Rajagopalan.

Disaster control

Since the 2013 launch of India's Mars orbiter, the country's space agency has established itself as a reliable, low-cost global player.

The new satellite will provide telecommunications, disaster management and weather forecasting services, among others.

A satellite focusing on disaster communications could be particularly beneficial to South Asia, home to about a quarter of the world's population and prone to tropical cyclones, heat waves, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides and floods.

"Bangladesh has serious climatic variations, while Maldives is seeing the impact of climate change. Both countries have a lot to receive in terms of disaster warnings," said Rajagopalan.

Bhaskar added, "This can go a long way in improving regional human security indicators, particularly in the more impoverished cross-sections of the regional population across South Asia."