Engineering:INSAT-3E

Short description: Indian communications satellite, 2003–2014

INSAT-3E

Mission type	Communications
Operator	INSAT
COSPAR ID	2003-047E
SATCAT no.	27951
Mission duration	10 years, 5 months, 5 days
Spacecraft properties
Bus	I-2K
Manufacturer	ISRO
Launch mass	2,750 kilograms (6,060 lb)
Dimensions	2.0×1.77×2.8 metres (6.6×5.8×9.2 ft)
Power	2,400 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	27 September 2003, 23:14:46 (2003-09-27UTC23:14:46Z) UTC
Rocket	Ariane 5G V162
Launch site	Kourou ELA-3
Contractor	Arianespace
End of mission
Disposal	Moved to a graveyard orbit
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geostationary (till 2014) Graveyard Orbit
Longitude	55° east (till 2014)
Periapsis altitude	35,764 kilometres (22,223 mi) (till 2014)
Apoapsis altitude	35,819 kilometres (22,257 mi) (till 2014)
Inclination	0.06 degrees
Period	23.93 hours
Epoch	30 October 2013, 02:33:58 UTC
Transponders
Band	24 C band 12 Extended C band

INSAT 3E is a defunct communication satellite built by Indian Space Research Organisation. It was launched on September 28, 2003, from the European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana on board the Ariane rocket. The satellite had a launch mass of 2750 kilograms. It is the 4th satellite launched in the INSAT-3 series for INSAT. It was designed for providing high-speed communication, Television, VSAT & Tele-education services and was an important landmark in Indian Space Programme.

In April 2014, almost eleven years after being launched, the satellite ran out of oxidizer and a few days later, was decommissioned by the ISRO. In a few days time, it will be moved to a graveyard orbit.

Launch

INSAT 3E was launched from Kourou, French Guiana on September 28, 2003, on European consortium Ariane space's Ariane 5-V162 launcher along with two other satellites viz. Eurobird 3 of Eutelsat and SMART-1 of European Space Agency at 4.44 am IST.It was placed into a geosynchronous transfer orbit 30 minutes after the lift-off, in 3-axis stabilised mode, with a perigee of 649 km and an apogee of 35,923 km and an inclination of 7 deg. with respect to the equator. Its master control facility is at Hassan, Karnataka (India).

Payload

INSAT 3E payload consists of C-band and extended C-band transponders. It has 24 C-band transponders, having India beam coverage providing an Edge Of Coverage-Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EOC-EIRP) of 38.5 dBW and 12 upper extended C-band transponders having India beam coverage providing an EOC-EIRP of 38 dBW.

Retirement

On April 1, 2014, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, while speaking to the Indian English newspaper "The Hindu", said that INSAT 3E had been decommissioned. The newspaper reported that a few days before, the satellite had run out of the on-board oxidiser, which is essential to burn the fuel that kept it Earth-locked (fixed over India) and running its daily functions. The ISRO had apparently expected that the satellite, positioned at 55 degrees E longitude, would last a few more months and that it would be smoothly replaced with GSAT-16. The Master Control Facility at Hassan is due to move the expired satellite into a graveyard orbit.

Services

• Television
• VSAT
• Communication
• Tele-education providing education to the poor and needy
• Tele-medicine administering medical services from the metros to villages & remote areas

External links

• ISRO website
• Commercial arm of ISRO
• Deptt. of Space Under Deptt. Of Science & Tech., Government Of India