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India`s Insat 3E blasts off aboard Ariane 5G
Bangalore, Sept 28: India`s latest exclusive communication satellite Insat-3E was launched by the European Ariane rocket from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guyana early this morning.
Bangalore, Sept 28: India's latest exclusive communication satellite Insat-3E was launched by the European Ariane rocket from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guyana early this morning.
The satellite was injected into space, about 30 minutes after the liftoff, by the Ariane 5G launch vehicle, along with two other spacecraft -- Smart-1, Europe's first lunar probe, and the Eutelsat E-Bird broadband services satellite.
The 2,775 kg Insat-3E, the largest payload of a European launcher's 162nd liftoff, was injected into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) with the satellite's face pointing towards the sun, with a perigee (nearest point to the earth) of 650 kms and an apogee (farthest point to the earth) of 36,000 kms at an inclination of seven degrees.
Soon after Insat-3E's injection into orbit, the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka acquired the first signals from the satellite, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sources in Bangalore said.
Insat-3E was scheduled for an August launch, but a quality alert from Japanese firm Mitsubishi, which supplied some components, had forced ISRO to retest certain satellite equipment causing the delay.
Bureau Report
The satellite was injected into space, about 30 minutes after the liftoff, by the Ariane 5G launch vehicle, along with two other spacecraft -- Smart-1, Europe's first lunar probe, and the Eutelsat E-Bird broadband services satellite.
The 2,775 kg Insat-3E, the largest payload of a European launcher's 162nd liftoff, was injected into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) with the satellite's face pointing towards the sun, with a perigee (nearest point to the earth) of 650 kms and an apogee (farthest point to the earth) of 36,000 kms at an inclination of seven degrees.
Soon after Insat-3E's injection into orbit, the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka acquired the first signals from the satellite, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sources in Bangalore said.
Insat-3E was scheduled for an August launch, but a quality alert from Japanese firm Mitsubishi, which supplied some components, had forced ISRO to retest certain satellite equipment causing the delay.
Bureau Report