INSAT-3E NOW ALL SET FOR LAUNCH
ON SUNDAY
INSAT-3E is all set
for launch on Sunday (September 28, 2003) between 4.32 a.m. and
4.50 a.m. IST. The fourth in the INSAT-3 series, its launch was
delayed by more than a month due to problem in some components.
The INSAT-3E will be put into orbit by "Ariane", the European
Space Agency vehicle from Kourou, in French Guyana. INSAT-3A,
3B, 3C are already operational. 3D, the last in the series, is
an exclusive met-satellite slated for launch during 2004.
INSAT-3E, an exclusive
communication satellite will replace INSAT-2DT as well as transponders
taken on lease, besides augmenting the present INSAT capacity
for Tele-communication services. Thirty minutes after lift-off,
the satellite will be injected into a geo-synchronous transfer
orbit. The Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka will
take command of the spacecraft after receiving the first signals
from it.
The INSAT-3E payloads
comprise, 24 C-band transponders, and 12 extended C-Band transponders.
The payloads on board will be the last to be checked before the
satellite is commissioned sometime next month.
