BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation on Monday announced that its communication satellite, the GSAT-31, was successfully launched from French Guiana, on the Ariane 5 VA-247 launch vehicle.
On board the vehicle, which took off from Kourou at 2.31 am, were the GSAT-31 and Saudi geostationary satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 satellites.
The GSAT 31 will provide continuity to operational services on some of the in-orbit satellites and will provide communication services to the Indian mainland as well as outlying islands. “GSAT-31 has a unique configuration of providing flexible frequency segments and flexible coverage,” ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said.
In the coming days, scientists will undertake phase-wise orbit-raising manoeuvres to place the satellite in Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) using its on-board propulsion system. “During the final stages of its orbit raising operations, the antenna reflector of GSAT-31 will be deployed. Following this, the satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration,” ISRO said.