The Hindu Business Line : Insat-4B lifts off

Bangalore March 12 Insat-4B took off in the wee hours of Monday from Kourou (South America) to join the domestic fleet of nine communications satellites.

4B heralds the nation's fourth DTH (direct-to-home television) player, Sun TV's SunDirect. It carries 24 transponders, 12 in the high-power Ku band. Of these, the national space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has allotted nearly seven transponders to Sun Direct; and the other five to Doordarshan's DD Direct. 12 transponders in the C band are for TV, radio and telecommunication purposes.

ISRO's spokesman Mr S. Krishnamurthy said the satellite was performing well and will be ready for commercial use in a month's time after tests on ground and in space. "Insat-4B will further augment the Insat capacity for DTH services and other communication and TV services."

4B is designed for 12 years. During the period, ISRO will earn Rs 4-4.6 crore (around $1 million) per transponder leased every year — or over Rs 660 crore during its lifetime.

ISRO's business arm, Antrix Corporation, earns a third of its nearly Rs 500-crore turnover from DTH business. Of the 32 DTH-specific transponders, it has allotted all 12 Ku-band transponders on Insat-4A to Tata Sky and nine to Zee group's Dish TV.

The next launch around July-August — Insat-4CR — will also have similar leased capacity for the next DTH provider, ADAG's Reliance Blue Magic.

The 3.025-tonne satellite raises the Insat satellite capacity to 199 transponders. With 10 satellites in orbit, ISRO has now established itself as the largest single satellite operator in the Asia-Pacific region, overtaking its counterparts from Indonesia and Japan.

Rs 500-cr mission

Mission 4B has cost ISRO Rs 500 crore: it was built in Bangalore at Rs 215 crore; the launch service on European major Arianespace's Ariane 5 ECA rocket cost another Rs 225 crore and insurance — now being taken out for only ISRO's procured launches — amounted to Rs 60 crore, a senior ISRO official said. ISRO's own launch vehicles GSLV and PSLV can currently lift only up to 2 tonnes and the agency is readying its GSLV-Mk III, a 4-tonne-class vehicle, for trial in 2008.

Insat-4B was flown at 3.33 a.m. IST along with the British military satellite, Skynet-5A. It will be finally located at 93.5 degrees East longitude near the older Insat-3A.

Arianespace has launched 13 of ISRO satellites in over 20 years. Starting Tuesday, scientists at ISRO's Master Control Facility will begin nudging 4B's tentative elliptical GTO or geostationary transfer orbit into a circular one at 36,000 km with a 24-hour orbital period.

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