INSAT-4CR will be commissioned in one month: Madhavan Nair

BANGALORE: Indian communication satellite INSAT-4CR, launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday by a Geosychronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-FO4), will be commissioned in a month's time, ISRO Chairman  G Madhavan Nair said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the second meeting of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) here, he said, ''Tomorrow we will carry out the first orbit rising process and within a month the satellite will be operational.''

The first orbit raising manoeuvre was successfully carried out by firing 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor on board the satellite for a duration of 27 minutes by commanding the satellite from Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka, he said.

The satellite had been put to a perigee (nearest point to earth) at 2,983 km and apogee (the farthest point to earth) to 30,702 km. The inclination of the orbit with respect to the equatorial plane had been reduced to 11.1 degree, Nair said.