India’s PSLV Rocket Successfully Orbits GSAT-12
By Jeffrey Hill | July 18, 2011
[Satellite TODAY 07-18-11] The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched its PSLV heavy-duty rocket to place its GSAT-12 communications satellite in orbit, ISRO Chief K Radhakrishnan confirmed July 15.
The PSLV rocket placed GSAT-12 in its intended sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) approximately 20 minutes after blastoff. Radhakrishnan said initial operations went smoothly and that the rocket’s navigation systems will move the satellite to its final geosynchronous orbit following in-space testing. “We needed to make modifications in the rocket’s navigational software for this mission,” Radhakrishnan said in a statement.
The GSAT-12 satellite was designed to transmit data transactions and provide satellite Internet access for various VSAT sectors. The satellite aims to augment transponder capacity of Indian National Satellite (Insat) system, which is comprised of eight S-, C-, Ku-band satellites. To date, ISRO has leased 86 transponders from various foreign satellites.