ISRO Set to Launch GSAT-6A Satellite From Sriharikota on March 29, 2018; Countdown Begins
The launch will happen on Thursday from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh at 4:56 pm IST. As per reports, the launch will take place at 16:56 hrs (4:56 pm) IST.
Sriharikota, March 28: The countdown for the launch of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s GSAT-6A began on Wednesday at 1.56 PM. India's space agency has scheduled the launch of the GSAT-6A- a powerful communication satellite onboard GSLV Mk II rocket for March 29, 2018. The launch will happen on Thursday from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh at 4:56 pm IST. As per reports, the launch will take place at 16:56 hrs (4:56 pm) IST.
The 27-hour long countdown for ISRO’s new satellite launch began at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. As per reports, the mission readiness review committee which is headed by Dr B.N. Suresh and Launch Authorisation Board led by SDSC director P. Kunhi Krishnan cleared the 27-hour countdown activity.
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), is an expendable launch system operated by the ISRO. GSLV has been used in ten launches to date, since its first launch in 2001 to the most recent on May 5, 2017 carrying the GSAT 9 satellite.
Like GSAT-6, the GSAT-6A too, is a high-power S-band communication satellite. It must be noted that the S-band is an electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). The satellite will be India's second predominantly S-band communications satellite. It must be noted that the first S-Band satellite was the GSAT-6. The GSAT-6A launch on Thursday will be ISRO's last launch for the financial year 2017-18. ISRO Chairman K Sivan has confirmed that the GSAT-6A launch would be followed by the launch of a navigation satellite which will be in the next fiscal, NDTV reported.
As per reports, the cost of the 2-tonne satellite is approximately rupees 270 crores and ISRO has stated that the lifespan of the GSAT-6A mission will be around 10 years. The 49.1-metre-long and 415.6 tonne rocket would place GSAT-6A into geostationary orbit at 36,000 km height.
As per reports, after the injection of the satellite into GTO, the two solar arrays of GSAT-6 A would be deployed automatically and the master control facility Hassan in Karnataka would take control of the satellite.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 28, 2018 05:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).