|
In the second orbit raising manoeuvre conducted at 10:39 am (IST) today (September 22, 2004), the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) on board EDUSAT was fired for 42 minutes by commanding the satellite from Master Control Facility (MCF), Hassan. With this LAM firing, EDUSAT perigee (closer point to the earth) has been raised from 8,800 km to 32,800 km. The apogee height remains at 36,000 km and the inclination of the orbit with respect to the equatorial plane has been reduced from 7.15 deg to the present 0.25 deg. EDUSAT now has an orbital period of 22 hours 40 minutes. The satellite will now be in the continuous radio visibility of MCF-Hassan.
EDUSAT was launched by India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV-F01, on September 20,2004 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota and the first orbit raising manoeuvre was carried out from MCF-Hassan yesterday (September 21, 2004). The satellite came within the radio visibility of MCF this morning at 5:30 am (IST) and all the necessary operations like earth acquisition and gyro calibration were carried out before the second orbit raising manoeuvre was started.
All systems on board EDUSAT are functioning normally.
|
