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Insat 3E all set for Sunday launch
Our Bureau
Bangalore
,
Sept. 22
AFTER getting its faulty components replaced and doubly checked at ISRO's Ahmedabad centre, Insat-3E is now all set to lift off next Sunday (September 28).
The launch of the communications satellite, now at the Kourou launch centre, was hastily put on hold on August 18 due to the presence of defective components in the vital transponder system, the solid state power amplifier (SSPAs).
In all, 28 SSPAs supplied by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation were involved and the systems were tested and reworked in the presence of a six-member team from the Japanese major. A high-level committee of the Space Applications Centre reviewed thermal and vibration tests and gave the green signal for the launch on September 13.
The new ISRO Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, who is leaving for Kourou on Tuesday for the launch by the European agency Arianespace, today said the 2.7-tonne "3E is a very important satellite for us and after detailed check-outs, we are now all set for its launch" aboard an Ariane rocket.
According to Mr A. Bhaskaranarayana, Director, Insat Programme Office, 3E is mainly a replacement for 2DT and would take the Insat transponder capacity to 120. The month-long delay would not mean any revenue loss, he said.
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