Insat 2E hits payload finally

Bangalore, April 15: The meteorological payload of the country's most sophisticated and highly powerful multipurpose satellite, Insat 2E,...

Bangalore, April 15: The meteorological payload of the country8217;s most sophisticated and highly powerful multipurpose satellite, Insat 2E, has been successfully switched on by spacecraft controllers with the imagery obtaining showing good overall performance8217;.

The scientists at the master control facility of the Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO at Hassan around noon yesterday successfully switched on the very high resolution radiometer VHRR to command for the first imagery in the visible spectral band for a full disc. According to an ISRO release here today the instrument functioned satisfactorily and a quick look of the imagery showed good performance. A detailed qualitative evaluation of the instrument would be carried out over the next few days.

Launched by an Ariane launcher from Kourou in French Guyana on April three, the last of the second generation Insat satellites was now on a drift mode after attaining the geostationary orbit and was expected to reach its space home at 83 degrees eastlongitude around April 19, ISRO sources told UNI.

All the systems on board the satellite were functioning normally, the sources said. Having completed the orbit raising and deployment operations during the last two weeks, the spacecraft controllers began payload related activities on the satellite. The VHRR instrument consisted of a detector and a scan mechanism. Besides, it incorporated a passive cooler for the purpose of infrared imaging. It operated in three spectral bands, one of which lay in the visible region with a ground resolution of two km.

The scientists turned on the separate carrier that transmitted meteorological data from VHRR and after confirming its nominal performance, the processing electronics was made on and checked out.

The payload which could image the earth as a full disc or in any selected region was commanded for a full disc imagery from the visible spectral band.

Imaging in the infrared channel and the new water vapour channel was scheduled to be commanded next week, ISROsaid.

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The satellite, to be co-located with Insat 1D at 83 degrees east longitude, was expected to be made operational by the end of this month or in the first week of May.

Its communication payload consisted of 17 transponders of which nine have been leased out to the Intelsat for ten years. The transponders were likely to be switched on only after the satellite reached its final destination, ISRO sources said.

Earlier, the ISRO raised the orbit of the satellite which would enable it to send more clear pictures to the master control facility. The operation entailed careful selection of imagery and control. After this the ISRO decided to focus on the payload factor.