 | |
| Mission type | Communications |
|---|---|
| Operator | INSAT |
| COSPAR ID | 2003-047E |
| SATCATno. | 27951 |
| Mission duration | 10 years, 5 months, 5 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | I-2K |
| Manufacturer | ISRO |
| Launch mass | 2,775 kilograms (6,118 lb) |
| Dry mass | 1,218 kilograms (2,685 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[1] |
| Rocket | Ariane 5G V162 |
| Launch site | KourouELA-3 |
| Contractor | Arianespace |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Moved to a graveyard orbit |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geosynchronous |
| 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[2] |
| Transponders | |
| Band | 24 C band 12 Extended C band |
INSAT 3E is a defunctcommunication satellite built byIndian Space Research Organisation. It was launched on September 28, 2003, from theEuropean Space Agency's spaceport inFrench Guiana on board theAriane rocket. The satellite had a launch mass of 2750 kilograms. It is the 4th satellite launched in the INSAT-3 series forINSAT. 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. A few days later, it was moved into agraveyard orbit.[3]
INSAT 3E was launched fromKourou, French Guiana on September 28, 2003, on European consortium Ariane space's Ariane 5-V162 launcher along with two other satellites viz.Eurobird 3 ofEutelsat andSMART-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. Itsmaster control facility is atHassan, Karnataka (India).
INSAT 3E payload consists of C-band and extended C-band transponders. It has 24C-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.
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 oxidizer, 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 withGSAT-16. The Master Control Facility at Hassan moved the expired satellite into agraveyard orbit a few days after.[3]
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