INSAT 2E OVERCOMES HICCUP
The solar array panels and the two antennae
of the indigenously built Insat 2E were deployed successfully
on 11 April. The testing of the transponders will commence
this week. Earlier, Insat 2E was placed in geostationary
orbit on 10 April after an initial hiccup when the Insat
Master Control Facility (MCF) in Hassan lost sight of the
satellite. The MCF fired the apogee motor for a total of
6579 seconds in four stages over the past week to place
it in geostationary orbit at 74 degrees east. Insat 2E is
slated to drift to 83 degrees east where it will be co-located
with an existing Isro satellite Insat 1D in the next few
days.
Insat 2E was successfully launched on 3
April by an Ariane 42P rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
The satellite has 17 transponders, 11 of which have been
leased in advance by Intelsat. Insat is speeding up the
schedule for the launch of its third-generation satellite
series and the first of this, Insat 3B, will be sent into
space by an Ariane 5 launcher by end this year.
