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GSLV-D6 / GSAT-6 Mission - INSAT-4E Strategic S-Band Advanced Military Communication Satellite

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Department of Atomic Energy
27-August, 2015 19:57 IST
GSLV Successfully Launches India’s Latest Communication Satellite GSAT-6

In its ninth flight (GSLV-D6) conducted today, (August 27, 2015), India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, equipped with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS), successfully launched GSAT-6, the country's latest communication satellite, into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The achieved orbit is very close to the intended one. The launch took place from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota, the spaceport of India. This was the fifth developmental flight of GSLV and the third to carry the indigenous CUS. GSLV-D6 was intended to further test and qualify the CUS developed by ISRO.

In its oval shaped GTO, the GSAT-6 satellite is now orbiting the Earth with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 168 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 35,939 km with an orbital inclination of 20.01 deg with respect to the equator.

After a smooth 29 hour countdown, the 416 tonne, 49 m tall GSLV-D6 carrying the 2117 kg GSAT-6, lifted off at 16:52 Hrs IST. About seventeen minutes after lift-off, GSAT-6 was successfully placed in GTO.

At 4.8 seconds before the countdown reached zero, the four liquid propellant strap-on stages of GSLV-D6, each carrying 42 tonne of liquid propellants, were ignited. At count zero and after confirming the normal performance of all the four strap-on motors, the mammoth 139 tonne solid propellant first stage core motor was ignited and GSLV lifted off. The major phases of the flight included the core motor burn-out, strap on burn-out, ignition of the second stage, separation of the core motor together with strap-ons, payload fairing separation, second stage separation, CUS ignition and its timely shut down after satisfactory performance. Following this, GSAT-6 separated from CUS about 17 minutes after launch.

Soon after its injection into GTO, the two solar arrays of GSAT-6 were automatically deployed and the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took control of GSAT-6.

In the coming days, GSAT-6's orbit will be raised from its present GTO to the final circular Geostationary Orbit (GSO) by firing the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in stages. The satellite will be commissioned into service after the completion of orbit raising operations, deployment of its 6 m wide sieve shaped unfurlable antenna, the satellite’s positioning in its designated orbital slot of 83 degree East longitude in the GSO and in-orbit testing of its communication payloads.

Today’s flight of GSLV underscores the success of ISRO in mastering the highly complex cryogenic rocket propulsion technology.

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Prime Minister's Office
27-August, 2015 17:43 IST
PM congratulates ISRO for the successful launch of GSAT-6

Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has congratulated scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation for the successful launch of GSAT-6.

"Another day and another phenomenal accomplishment by our scientists. Congratulations ISRO for the successful launch of GSAT-6," the Prime Minister said.

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Vice President's Secretariat
27-August, 2015 20:19 IST
VICE PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES ENTIRE TEAM OF ISRO FOR SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF GSLV D-6

The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari has offered his congratulations to the entire team of the ISRO for the successful launch of three-stage heavy weight rocket GSLV D-6 with indigenous cryogenic stage that put in orbit GSAT-6 communication satellite.

He has said that the successful launch underscores the dedication and ingenuity of our scientists and engineers.

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Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV-D6 successfully launched - The Hindu

Staging yet another spectacular launch of three-stage heavy weight rocket GSLV D-6 with indigenous cryogenic upper stage, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday successfully put in orbit GSAT-6 communication satellite.

The GSLV D-6 is the second successful consecutive launch of the GSLV series with indigenous cryogenic upper stage. ISRO had on January 5, 2014 launch GSLV D-5, after a similar attempt failed in 2010.

About 17 minute after the 49.1 metre high spacecraft lifted off raised from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre with a lift-off weight of 416 tonne at 4.52 pm, the rocket placed GSAT-6 in the intended orbit.

S-band communication services

The satellite would be eventually fine tuned into the final geostationary orbit at 83 degree East longitude. GSAT-6 will provide S-band communication services in the country.

"The performance of GSLV D-6 has been normal and the intricacies of the rocket have been understood," ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said soon after the launch, from the Mission Control Room.

The Thursday's launch could mean that the national space agency was increasingly confident of launching the heavy weight rocket with indigenous cryogenic upper stage, which can lift payloads weighing about 2.2 tonne.

Mission Director Umamaheswaran said that the launch was a "Onam" gift of ISRO to the country.

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Largest antenna ISRO has ever made

The 2,117 kg-weighing GSAT-6 communication satellite is aimed at primarily benefiting the country's strategic users and other specific authorised users. The cuboid-shaped satellite with a mission life of nine years also includes a first-of-its-kind S-Band unfurlable antenna with a diameter of six metre. This is the largest antenna ISRO has ever made for a satellite.

Though the Thursday's launch is the nine time ISRO was using GSLV rocket, this is the third time the rocket was being launched with indigenous cryogenic upper stage. "GSLV-D6 flight is significant since it intends to continue the testing of CUS," according to ISRO.

The cryogenic stage was "technically a very complex system" compared to solid or earth-storable liquid propellant stages due to its use of propellants at extremely low temperatures and the associated thermal and structural challenges, ISRO stated.

A cryogenic rocket stage "is more efficient and provides more thrust for every kilogram of propellant it burns" compared to solid and earth-storable liquid propellant rocket stages, it added. The cryogenic stages fires for a nominal duration of 720 seconds during the launch.
 
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