India’s mega satellite GSAT-8 put into transfer orbit (Lead)
May 21st, 2011 - 5:13 am ICT by IANS
Bangalore, May 21 (IANS) India’s mega geo-stationary satellite GSAT-8 was successfully deployed in an elliptical geo-synchronous transfer orbit early Saturday by the Ariane-VA-202 rocket, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
“The 3.1-tonne satellite was injected in the GTO 31 minutes after it was launched at 0211 IST and separated from the rocket’s upper stage at 1,800 km above earth,” the official of the state-run space agency told IANS.
Earlier, the rocket lifted off successfully from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana off the South American coast with two other payloads.
Ariane-V of Arianespace belongs to the European Space Agency consortium.
The Indian spacecraft carries 24 high-power Ku-band transponders for direct-to-home (DTH) services provided by state-run and private broadcasters.
The space agency’s master control facility (MCF) at Hasan, about 180 km from Bangalore, started receiving the signals from GSAT-8 within minutes after it entered the geo-synchronous transfer orbit (GTO). The MCF also took command and control of the heavy satellite.
The satellite will be gradually put into the 36,000-km geosynchronous orbit over the next couple of days and its antenna and solar panels will be deployed.
“The MCF will test and monitor the health parameters of the payloads by June 1. It will be available for DTH services from July 1,” ISRO director S. Satish said.
Along with GSAT-8, the space agency sent the global position system (GPS) aided geo augmented navigation (Gagan) as an additional payload to improve the accuracy of the US’ GPS.
- India's heavy satellite GSAT-8 launched from French Guiana - May 21, 2011
- Launch of Indian satellite put off to May 21 - May 17, 2011
- Indian communication satellite to be launched May 21 - May 17, 2011
- Indian satellite to be launched May 20 from Kourou - May 14, 2011
- Indian satellite's orbit raised - May 22, 2011
- Indian mega satellite spins in geo transfer orbit (Second Lead) - May 21, 2011
- India's advanced satellite placed in geosynchronous orbit - May 25, 2011
- India to launch next communication satellite in July - Jun 01, 2011
- PM congratulates scientists for GSAT-8 launch - May 21, 2011
- Indian mega satellite to boost aviation: AAI - May 21, 2011
- Indian rocket engine test successful - May 13, 2012
- India plans to launch 10 satellites every year - Mar 31, 2010
- Indian-made European satellite in geostationary orbit - Nov 30, 2010
- India to launch five satellites by June - Apr 17, 2011
- India to launch communication satellite July 15 - Jun 30, 2011
Tags: ariane, arianespace, dth services, european space agency, french guiana, gagan, global position system, hasan, indian space research, indian space research organisation, isro, ku band transponders, mcf, payloads, private broadcasters, satish, solar panels, spaceport, transfer orbit, upper stage