GSAT-10 placed in Intermediate Orbit

BANGALORE: ISRO scientists today carried out the first critical orbit raising manoeuvre as part of efforts to place India's latest communication satellite GSAT-10 in its final orbit.

The orbit raising operations, which placed the satellite in an intermediate orbit, were commanded from ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka. GSAT-10 is in good health, an ISRO statement said.

During the operation, the Liquid Apogee Motor on board the satellite, launched yesterday on board the Ariane-5 rocket from Kourou in French Guyana, was fired for nearly two hours.

The second orbit-raising manoeuvre is planned tomorrow. GSAT-10 is meant to augment telecommunication, Direct-To-Home broadcasting and radio navigation services in the country by adding 30 more to the much-in-demand transponder capacity, now hit by a crunch.