ISRO GSAT-11 / Ariane VA246 Mission: December 5, 2018 (IST)

[KapitaanAli]

GSAT-11 Mission

GSAT-11 is the next generation high throughput communication satellite configured around ISRO’s I-6K Bus. Weighing about 5854 kg, GSAT-11 is the heaviest satellite built by ISRO. The satellite is scheduled for launch onboard Ariane-5 launch vehicle from French Guiana. The satellite will be initially placed in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit and will subsequently be raised to Geostationary Orbit by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor onboard the satellite.

GSAT-11 will be located at 74° East and is the fore-runner in a series of advanced communications satellite with multi-spot beam antenna coverage over Indian mainland and Islands.

GSAT-11 will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country. It will also provide a platform to demonstrate new generation applications.

Mission description by Arianespace:
For its 10th launch of 2018, and the sixth of the year using an Ariane 5 vehicle, Arianespace will serve the national ambitions of two major Asian space agencies by orbiting GSAT-11 for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

With this mission dedicated to space applications for telecommunications, weather and climate studies, Arianespace once again contributes to the improvement of life on Earth, especially in its most remote and isolated areas.

 

[KapitaanAli]

Dec 04, 2018
The countdown for the launch of GSAT-11 mission onboard Ariane-5 launch vehicle started today (December 04, 2018) at 13:14 Hrs IST from French Guiana. The launch is scheduled at 02:07 Hrs IST on December 05, 2018.

 

[KapitaanAli]

 

[Nilgiri]

@Vergennes @BON PLAN

 

[KapitaanAli]

GSAT-11 separation:

Both satellites have separated.

Congrats to all countries and everyone involved.

 

[KapitaanAli]

Dec 05, 2018
India’s heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 launched successfully from French Guiana

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) heaviest and most-advanced high throughput communication satellite GSAT-11 was successfully launched from the Spaceport in French Guiana during the early hours today.

The launch vehicle Ariane 5 VA-246 lifted off from Kourou Launch Base, French Guiana at 02:07 am (IST) carrying India’s GSAT-11 and South Korea’s GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellites, as scheduled. Ariane 5 is one of three launch vehicles operated by Arianespace along with Soyuz and Vega.

After a 30-min flight, GSAT-11 separated from the Ariane 5 upper stage in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. The achieved orbit was very close to the intended one.

The 5854-kg GSAT-11 will provide high data rate connectivity to users of Indian mainland and islands through 32 user beams in Ku-band and 8 hub beams in Ka-band.

“GSAT-11 will boost the broadband connectivity to rural and inaccessible Gram Panchayats in the country coming under the Bharat Net Project, which is part of Digital India Programme,” ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said.

The Bharat Net Project aims to enhance the public welfare schemes like e-banking, e-health, e-governance among others.

He said GSAT-11 will act as a forerunner to all future high throughput communication satellites. “Today’s successful mission has boosted the confidence of the entire team,” Dr Sivan added.

Post-separation, ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of GSAT-11 and found its health parameters normal.

The scientists will undertake phase-wise orbit-raising manoeuvres in the days ahead to place the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) using its on-board propulsion systems. GSAT-11 will be positioned at 74-degree east longitude in the geostationary orbit.

Subsequently, the two solar arrays and four antenna reflectors of GSAT-11 will be deployed in orbit. The satellite will be operational after the successful completion of all in-orbit tests.

In the last 21 days, ISRO successfully completed three satellite and two launch vehicle missions.

 

[KapitaanAli]

Dec 08, 2018
Orbit raising manoeuvres have been performed on GSAT-11

After the successful launch of GSAT-11 into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by Ariane 5 VA246 vehicle on December 05, 2018, three orbit raising manoeuvres have been performed by firing the satellite’s onboard propulsion system for a cumulative duration of more than four hours. Consequently, the orbit of GSAT-11 with a perigee (nearest point to earth) of 32,657 km and an apogee (farthest point to earth) of 35,850 km, is very close to its designated Orbit. One more manoeuvre will be performed tomorrow (December 09, 2018) to achieve the operational circular geostationary orbit of 35,786 km.

 

[KapitaanAli]

Dec 10, 2018
GSAT-11 positioned in Geostationary Orbit

GSAT-11 communication satellite is positioned in its designated Geostationary orbit (with an altitude of about 36000 km) after four orbit raising maneuvers.
The deployment of the largest solar panels and reflectors have been successfully carried out.