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INSAT-3E is the fourth satellite to be launched in the
INSAT-3 series. It is an exclusive communication satellite to
further augment the communication services that are being provided
by the INSAT System. Weighing 2750 kg at lift-off, INSAT-3E
carries 24 Normal C-band and 12 Extended C-band
transponders.
INSAT-3E will be launched from Kourou, French
Guyana by the European Ariane 5 launch vehicle into a Geosynchronous
Transfer Orbit (GTO) with a perigee of 650 km and an apogee of
36,000 km inclined at an angle of 7 deg to the equator. The
satellite will be manoeuvred to its final circular 36,000 km
Geostationary Orbit by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) on board
the satellite. The satellite will be stationed at 55 deg East
longitude.
Commissioned in 1983, INSAT is the largest
domestic communication satellite system in the Asia-Pacific region.
At present, it has six satellites ó INSAT-2E, INSAT-3A, INSAT-3B,
INSAT-3C, KALPANA-1 and an experimental satellite GSAT-2 providing
Telecommunications, TV broadcasting, Meteorological Imaging,
Disaster Warning and Satellite-aided search and rescue services.
INSAT system provides about 120 transponders in S-band, C-band,
extended C-band and Ku-band, besides Very high Resolution Radiometer
(VHRR) and Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera for meteorological
imaging. INSAT-3D, an advanced meteorological satellite and the last
in the INSAT-3 series, will be launched in
2004-05.
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