The MCF subsequently issued commands to the satellite to make the earth viewing face to orient towards earth. The calibration of the gyros on board the satellite was also carried out.
The launch of Ariane-5, which will carry India's indigenously-built 3,025 kg INSAT-4B geostationary satellite and Skynet 5A of EADS Astrium, is set for between 3.55 am and 4.28 am on Sunday.
Though it was originally intended to be the last launch for the INSAT 4B by Arianespace with the future satellites planned for launch from the Satish Dhawan Spaceport in Sriharikota, India is expected to launch INSAT 4G from an acquired launcher.
The Insat-4B communication satellite has been hit by a 'power supply anomaly' in one of its two solar panels, partially affecting some television and telecom services in the country.
Industry experts say that even after the Insat-4B launch, there would be a requirement of over 25 more transponders from new players as well as older players looking for expansion.
The anomaly was found in the 'water deluge system' that is intended to reduce the acoustics level for the safety of the launch-pad
The launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C52) is scheduled at 05:59 hours on Monday from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said.
The non-availability of transponders on satellites has hit the expansion plans of not only existing direct-to-home players such as DD Direct Plus and Dish TV but also new entrants such as Sun Direct, Reliance Bluemagic and the Bharti group.
The Indian Space Research Organisation is set to rake in a revenue of about Rs 1,250 crore (Rs 12.5 billion) with the launch of INSAT-4B satellite as transponders are fully booked on the back of booming demand for Direct-To-Home services.
The European space agency would be asked to launch the INSAT-4A and INSAT-4B spacecraft.
A high power satellite, GSAT-15 is being inducted into the INSAT/GSAT system. GSAT-15 carries a total of 24 communication transponders in Ku-band as well as a GPS-Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands.
The 'context' of the launch of GSAT-15 highlights that India has much ground to cover in the transponder arena while in satellite navigation arena ISRO's progress has been satisfactory, says Ajey Lele.
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