Kalam dedicates Insat-4B satellite to nation
Friday, 08 June 2007, 19:30 IST
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Hassan (Karnataka): President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Friday dedicated to the nation the latest communications satellite Insat-4B from the Master Control Facility (MCF) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) here. As the second satellite in the Insat-4 series, the 3,025 kg Insat-4B was launched March 17 by the European Ariane-5 ECA rocket of Arianspace from Kourou in French Guyana. With 12 high power Ku-Band transponders and 12 C- band transponders as its payloads the satellite is augmenting the Insat capacity for Direct To Home (DTH) television channels and broadcasting communication services to public and private agencies. Spinning in the geo-synchronous orbit at about 36,000 km over the Equator, Insat-4B is co-located with Insat 3A at 93.5 degree East Longitude. "As the heaviest satellite in the Insat series, Insat-4B was designed to provide DTH and communication services in the subcontinent, with its footprints extending to South-East and North-West regions beyond India," ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair told IANS here, about 200 km from Bangalore. The MCF, which is celebrating its silver jubilee on completing 25 years of service, is the Indian space agencies nerve centre monitoring and controlling the communications and remote sensing satellites in the Insat and IRS series that are located in the geo-synchronous and Polar orbits respectively. "The MCF carries out telemetry tracking and command operations of all the Indian geo stationary satellites in all phases - launch, initial orbit raising, station acquisitions, in-orbit testing of payloads and on-orbit operations till the end of the mission," Nair said on the occasion. Coordinating its activities with its other centre at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, the network of computers at MCF process the telemetry signals in text and graphics form in real time. To maintain the satellites in good health, the 360-strong scientists and technicians constantly monitor their functions on all parameters. A team of experts review the health data and provide feedback to designers. "The health parameters of various sub-systems of the satellites are transmitted to the ground station through telemetry. The parameters relate to power generation propellant usage, temperature at different locations, pressure of the fuel tanks, orientation of the satellites with respect to the sun and earth. "The information is updated every second. Each satellite has about 800 such parameters to be monitored. The cluster of antenna at MCF point to the spacecraft and receive the telemetry signals," Nair pointed out. Functioning round the clock on 365x24x7 basis, the MCF successfully handled 20 geo-stationary satellite missions launched from the US, French Guyana and the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh since it was set up way back in 1982. As an integrated facility, consisting of multiple satellite control earth stations (SCES), satellite control centre (SCC), mission control centre (MCC), computer networks and software that acquires and processes the date from more than 10 communication satellites simultaneously, the MCF has an overall radio visibility (overage extending from the Persian Gulf in the west to Australia in the east of 150 degrees of the geo-stationary arc). The geographical location of the facility at Hassan and Bhopal is strategic for controlling the geo-stationary satellites positioned over the Asia-Pacific region. After dedicating Insat-4B, Kalam heralded the silver jubilee celebrations of the MCF in the presence of Karnataka Governor T.N. Chaturvedi, state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, district in-charge Minister H.D. Revanna, former ISRO chairman G.R. Rao and K. Kasturirangan and other dignitaries, including distinguished scientists and technocrats.
Source: IANS
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