Isro loses contact with GSAT, 2nd setback in 7 months

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Sunday said it has lost contact with GSAT-6A, a communication satellite planned to provide high speed internet on mobile devices for the country’s strategic needs within three days of its launch.The space agency lost contact with the satellite when it attempted to ignite the engine of satellite in a third and final move to its desired location in space.“Efforts are underway to establish the link with the satellite,” said Isro in a statement. The satellite was launched on March 29 by the homegrown geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (Gslv).This could also be the first big failure after K Sivan, a rocket scientist took over as the chairman of Isro in January. In August last year, Isro lost its Navic spare satellite when the heat shield failed to open after it went to space. An investigation found that a controlled explosive failed to detonate and break the latch that locked the satellite in the heat shield.The GSAT-6A, the second in the series of GSAT-6 satellites of Isro to provide high speed broadband using S band spectrum on mobile phones was designed for a life of 10 years. In August 2015, Isro had launched the GSAT-6 successfully.

from The Economic Times https://ift.tt/2H1QzLG