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Countdown
for India's advanced satellite launch begins Sunday
Saturday December 18, 2010 08:05:55 PM,
IANS
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Chennai: The countdown
for Monday's launch of India's heaviest communication satellite,
meant to retire an earlier one sent up in 1999 and ensure
continuity of telecom, TV and weather services, will begin at
11.01 Sunday morning, an official said.
GSAT-5P will blast off to space from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at
Sriharikota, around 80 km from here.
Speaking to IANS, Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO)
director (publications and public relations) S. Satish said: "All
the activities prior to the countdown are progressing well. The
geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) will fly with
GSAT-5P (atop it) Monday evening."
The GSLV rocket is 51 metres tall, weighs 418 tonnes and costs
around Rs.175 crore (Rs.1.75 billion). The satellite, with a
payload of 2,310 kg, has a price tag of Rs.125 crore.
ISRO successfully conducted the launch rehearsal Friday without
the rocket's second and third stage engines being filled with
liquid and cryogenic fuel respectively.
ISRO officials told IANS that the process of filling the liquid
and cryogenic fuel will begin during the countdown and end 30
minutes before the actual flight.
The onboard gases will be filled to the required pressure and the
rocket's electronics will also be checked, officials said.
The GSAT-5P satellite, with a mission life of over 13 years, has
36 transponders, an automatic receiver and transmitter of
communication and broadcast signals.
Successful launch of the satellite will take the agency's
transponder capacity to around 235 from 200 in orbit now.
According to Satish, ISRO has the following communication
satellites in service - INSAT 2E, INSAT 3A, INSAT 3B, INSAT 3C,
INSAT 3E, INSAT 4A, INSAT 4CR and INSAT 4B working at 50 percent
capability.
This year, ISRO has launched two major satellites - communication
satellite GSAT-4 and remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2. While
the launch of GSAT-4 failed as the GSLV rocket carrying it plunged
into the sea due to an engine failure, Cartosat-2 was placed
successfully in the orbit.
ISRO has till date sent up six GSLV rockets with satellites, of
which only two missions were full successes and one a partial
victory. The rest could not accomplish their mission of slinging
the satellite into their intended path of orbit.
The two successful launches were in 2003 and 2004, and put into
space an experimental communication satellite GSAT-2 and another
for educational purposes Edusat. Monday's launch is to replace
Insat2E, that was intended to cater to Asia and Australia.
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