INSAT-4CR Successfully Placed In Orbit

After testing the nerves of the Indian space research fraternity, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-F04 successfully lifted off at 6.20 pm on Sunday and placed INSAT- 4CR satellite on its Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

The launch from Sathish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota, a repeat using an identical satellite that was lost in the F02 fiasco last year, was not without high drama. Slated for 4.21 pm, the launch was postponed when the countdown entered the last 15 seconds as the ready signal for the cryogenic stage was not given from the ground station. The launch was put off till 5.20 and later scheduled for 6.20 pm.

The Liquid Apogee Motor mounted on the satellite would fire and place it on the Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) in the next few days. Though the vehicle cruised on the precisely charted trajectory, the flight path was not smooth for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G Madhavan Nair and his team.

The burden of the failure of GSLV F02 that resulted in the loss of INSAT 4C on July 10 last year, coupled with inclement weather conditions, made the lift off difficult for the scientists in the first attempt.

When the signals stopped on the screen, all our hearts stopped beating. But later, we had a nice take off - luminous and majestic, Nair said at a postlaunch media conference at Sriharikota.

The overall cost of the launch is around Rs 400 crore, including Rs 150 crore for the satellite and Rs 160 crore for the launch vehicle. The communication satellite would help the Direct-To-Home sector by providing Ku-Band transponders. This is the third in the INSAT 4 satellite series, and the first to be launched from Indian soil, with the previous two being launched through the European Ariane Launch Vehicle in 2005 and 2006.

Madhavan Nair said ISRO was planning two more launches of Indian workhorse vehicle Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and another GSLV mission by the beginning of next year.