INSAT-4A launched successfully

By agencies   |   Thursday, 22 December 2005, 20:30 IST
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BANGALORE: A European Ariane-5 rocket sent the most powerful and advanced telecommunications satellite INSAT-4A satellites for India into orbit after a textbook launch from French Guiana early on Thursday giving a major thrust to the fledgling Direct-to-Home (DTH) television broadcasting services. The rocket placed INSAT-4A in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) in 3-axis stabilized mode, drawing cheers from Arianespace and Indian Space Research Organization officials. With 12 Ku-band transponders, the 3,080 kg INSAT-4A is the first satellite to meet the requirement of DTH television services apart from carrying 12 C-band transponders to augment the INSAT capacity for communication and TV services. The 12 Ku-band 36 MHz bandwidth high-powered transponders provide 140 to 150 DTH channels, said ISRO officials. Tata-Sky, the joint venture of the Tatas and the Rupert Murdoch-owned STAR group, has booked all the Ku-band transponders on the satellite, designed, built and integrated by Bangalore-based ISRO. ISRO paid an additional $50 million to Arianespace, the European commercial launch services provider, as launch cost. "This (INSAT-4A) is going to revolutionize the TV broadcasting directly to the homes and improve the entertainment scenario in India," a beaming ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair declared after the successful launch, telecast live by Doordarshan.