ISRO To Send One More Satellite On 21st May

May 19, 2011 1000 hrs IST

GSAT-8 will be used primarily for DTH services.

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is all set to launch the GSAT-8 on 21st May, and the pre-launch preparations have been going on smoothly on schedule. The Indian space agency will launch this commercial satellite using Arianespace's Ariane-V rocket from South America at 02:08 a.m. Originally scheduled for 20th May, the launch got delayed by a day due to requirement of some additional inspections carried out by Arianespace.

GSAT-8 weighs 3.01 tonne and has 24 Ku-band transponders tor transmission and reception of communication and broadcasting signals for DTH services. It will be deployed into space after 30 minutes of the launch, when it will be placed in the geostationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the equator. A satellite in a geostationary orbit remains always above a certain point of Earth and is therefore ideal for being used to transmit and receive television signals.

ISRO has been successfully launching commercial satellites using its PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rockets, where the satellites are placed in a polar orbit (orbit passing over the Earth's poles), rather than a geostationary orbit. Such satellites are ideal for weather forecasting and terrain mapping purposes. Geostationary satellites, on the other hand have been launched using GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) rockets, and these have had a higher failure rates. This is one of the reasons that the GSAT-8 is being launched using the French space agency's rocket.


http://www.techtree.com/India/News/ISRO_To_Send_One_More_Satellite_On_21st_May/551-115228-547.html