An Indian satellite designed to boost television and communication services was on Friday nudged into its final orbit, the national space agency said. "The satellite is now in the top orbit. Everthing is fine," S. Krishnamurthy, spokesman for the Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told AFP.
The 3,025-kilogram (6,655-pound) INSAT-4B was launched by Arianespace's Ariane-5 rocket from French Guiana on Monday after a day's delay caused by a technical glitch.
The Indian-built satellite was placed in the final orbit at a height of 36,000 kilometres (22,500 miles) above the equator by scientists at the Master Control Facility in the southern Indian city of Hasan.
On Tuesday, the satellite had been sent into its "intermediate orbit" at a height of between 14,000 and 15,000 kilometres above the equator.
The satellite is equipped with 24 transponders designed to beam television programmes directly to households using mini-dish antennas in the country of 1.1 billion people.
All transponders on the satellite were fully booked before launch, the Press Trust of India reported this month, enabling the Indian space agency to earn 12.5 billion rupees (282 million dollars) in revenue and more than cover the 2.25 billion rupees it paid Arianespace for the launch.
The satellite, which has a life of 12 years, cost 2.1 billion rupees to develop and has been insured for 600 million rupees.
Launched in 1983, INSAT is the largest domestic communication satellite system in the Asia-Pacific region, with nine satellites in operation equipped with 175 communication transponders.
The satellites provide services in telecommunication, television broadcasting and meteorology including disaster warning.
Source: Agence France-Presse
