GSAT-12, a communication satellite weighing 1400 Kg with 12 transponders on-board, was successfully launched into a pre-determined orbit by the Indian Space Research Organisation on Friday.
A polar satellite launch vehicle titled PSLV-C17, with the satellite on-board blasted off from the launch pad at Satish Dhavan Space Centre at 4.48 pm. The lift off as well as the flight of the launch vehicle were as per script drawn out by the space scientists of the ISRO.
“The PSLV-C17/GSAT-12 mission was successful. The launch vehicle injected the satellite very precisely into the intended orbit. It was a great event,” K Radhakrishnan, chairman, ISRO, told the nation 20 minutes after the lift off. He said the entire operation was as per the plan worked out by Team ISRO. The GSAT-12 satellite was built at a cost of Rs 90 crore.
The uniqueness of the mission was the fact that a communication satellite was injected into the Geo Stationary Orbit using a polar satellite launching vehicle. Since the GSO is at a distance of 36,000 km from the earth, communication satellites are usually launched using high power Geo Synchronous Satellite
Launching Vehicles. Since India is yet to perfect the cryogenic engine for powering the GSLV, ISRO opted for the PSLV. The satellite with 12 transponders will benefit hospitals and universities for launching tele medicine and distance learning facilities.
The PSLV C-17 mission saw the emergence of a woman scientist as the future face of India’s space programmes. Anuradha, a scientist from ISRO Bangalore becomes the country’s first woman satellite fabricator. It was Anuradha and her colleagues which designed and built the GSAT-12 satellite.
PSLV-C17 mission director Kunhikrishnan (Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre) said the next PSLV mission would launch MeghaTropiqe, a spacecraft jointly built by scientists of India and France.
