India’s latest communication satellite GSAT-6 successfully launched

 

Sriharikota, 28 Aug 2015: The GSLV-D6, in its ninth flight on Thursday August 27, India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle fitted with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) was successful in launching GSAT-6, the country’s newest communication satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

 

The orbit achieved was very close to the intended one. It was launched from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, at Sriharikota, the spaceport of India. This was the fifth developmental flight of GSLV as well as the third to carry the indigenous CUS. GSLV-D6 was further intended to test and qualify the CUS developed by ISRO.

 

The GSAT-6 satellite, in an oval shaped GTO will now orbiting the Earth with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 168 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 35,939 km along with an orbital inclination of 20.01 degree with respect to the equator.

 

After a 29 hour countdown, the 416 tonne, 49 m tall GSLV-D6 carrying the 2117 kg GSAT-6, took off at 16:52 hrs IST and after 17 minutes of lift-off, the GSAT-6 was successfully placed in GTO.

 

As soon as its injection into GTO, two solar arrays of GSAT-6 were automatically deployed while the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took control of GSAT-6.

 

In the coming days, GSAT-6’s orbit would be raised from its present GTO to the final circular Geostationary Orbit (GSO) by firing the satellite’s Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in various stages. The satellite will then be commissioned into service after the completion of orbit raising operations, deployment of its 6 m wide sieve shaped unfurlable antenna, the satellite’s positioning in its designated orbital slot of 83 degree East longitude in the GSO and in-orbit testing of its communication payloads.