{"id":18093,"date":"2018-04-02T16:59:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-02T11:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=18093"},"modified":"2018-04-02T16:59:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T11:29:00","slug":"isro-in-tumult-lost-contact-with-the-gsat-6a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/isro-in-tumult-lost-contact-with-the-gsat-6a\/","title":{"rendered":"ISRO in tumult: lost contact with the GSAT-6A"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><u>Context:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Within less than 48 hours, ISRO has lost contact with the GSAT-6A communication satellite.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Background:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Launched on:<\/strong> 29<sup>th<\/sup> March, 2018<\/li>\n<li>The first <strong>orbit-raising operation<\/strong> of the satellite was successfully carried out by firing the satellite\u2019s <strong>LAM (liquid apogee motor) <\/strong>engine: 30<sup>th<\/sup> March, 2018<\/li>\n<li><strong>Note:<\/strong> \u00a0This put the satellite in an oval orbit around the earth.<\/li>\n<li>second orbit raising manoeuvre was successfully carried out: 1<sup>st<\/sup> April, 2018<\/li>\n<li>4 minutes after the orbit-raising operation, the satellite <strong>stopped sending data.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>A third orbit raising exercise was due on 1<sup>st<\/sup> April, 2018.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Note:<\/strong> In 2017, PSLV- C39 mission, carrying the IRNSS-1H navigation satellite also failed after the heat shield refused to open and release the satellite.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-18094 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/going.jpg?resize=380%2C290\" alt=\"\" width=\"380\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/going.jpg?w=380&amp;ssl=1 380w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/going.jpg?resize=150%2C114&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/going.jpg?resize=300%2C229&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>GSAT-6A:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>GSAT-6Ais a <strong>communications satellite.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is under the operation of\u00a0<strong>Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It features a <strong>6-metre (20\u00a0ft) unfurlable\u00a0S-band\u00a0antenna<\/strong> similar to the one used on\u00a0GSAT-6.<\/li>\n<li>It has both <strong>civilian and defence applications.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It will also provide a platform for <strong>developing technologies<\/strong> such as:<\/li>\n<li>demonstration of 6-metre S-Band unfurlable antenna,<\/li>\n<li>hand-held ground terminals and<\/li>\n<li>network management techniques that could be useful in satellite-based mobile communication applications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/gsat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Know more about GSAT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Reasons behind GSAT-6A\u2019s loss of contact with ground station:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Scientists suspect an <strong>on-board power system malfunction. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>When that happens, it automatically goes into <strong>safe mode<\/strong> and there is <strong>loss of the link.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Limitations of ISRO\u2019s satellite launches:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There\u2019s a lack of <strong>launch and satellite infrastructure. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Note:<\/strong> It can launch only smaller satellites of around 1000kg or less and place them in near-earth orbits coming down to only around 800km above the earth.<\/li>\n<li>There is a shortage of <strong>Indian transponders.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>There are challenges for <strong>India\u2019s communications and security needs.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It has fallen back on repetitive launches of the <strong>Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Absence of the GSLV means that India is spending <strong>extra money<\/strong> and it is losing valuable opportunities for <strong>communications satellite launches. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Although, PSLV is commercial value but limitations on <strong>payload mass and orbital altitude <\/strong>brings limited returns.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>ISRO\u2019s major failures so far:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>10<sup>th<\/sup> August, 1979:<\/strong>\u00a0The first SLV3-E1 crashed into sea because of a defective valve.<\/li>\n<li><strong>31<sup>st<\/sup> May, 1981:<\/strong>\u00a0SLV3-D1 was a placed satellite into a wrong orbit.<\/li>\n<li><strong>24<sup>th<\/sup> March, 1987:<\/strong>\u00a0First flight of ASLV-D1 didn\u2019t succeed because of the failure in the ignition of first stage.<\/li>\n<li><strong>13<sup>th<\/sup> July, 1988:<\/strong>\u00a0ASLV-D2, successor to ASLV-D1, too failed because of inadequate control.<\/li>\n<li><strong>20<sup>th<\/sup> September, 1993:<\/strong>\u00a0PSLV-D1, the very first in the PSLV series, failed when the rocket was unable to ignite after the second stage separated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>18<sup>th<\/sup> April, 2001:<\/strong>\u00a0GSLV Mk-I-D1, the first developmental flight of GSLV, failed to deploy its payload into the right orbit.<\/li>\n<li><strong>10<sup>th<\/sup> July, 2006:<\/strong>\u00a0GSLV Mk-I-F02 was destroyed because its trajectory went outside expected limits.<\/li>\n<li><strong>15<sup>th<\/sup> April, 2010:<\/strong>\u00a0The cryogenic upper stage of GSLV Mk-II-D3 failed after a fuel booster turbo pump packed up.<\/li>\n<li><strong>25<sup>th<\/sup> December, 2010:<\/strong>\u00a0GSLV Mk-I-F06 was destroyed after control was lost over liquid fuel boosters.<\/li>\n<li><strong>8<sup>th<\/sup> August, 2017:<\/strong>\u00a0The PSLV-C39 failed to launch the IRNSS-1H satellite because the heat shield didn\u2019t open.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Conclusion:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>With <strong>additional resources and manpower<\/strong>, ISRO can accomplish much higher success-notches.<\/li>\n<li>Also, ISRO has been known for its frugal innovation, so these kinds of satellite glitches should be taken as <strong>lessons-to-be-learnt<\/strong> for future projects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: Within less than 48 hours, ISRO has lost contact with the GSAT-6A communication satellite. Background: Launched on: 29th March, 2018 The first orbit-raising operation of the satellite was successfully carried out by firing the satellite\u2019s LAM (liquid apogee motor) engine: 30th March, 2018 Note: \u00a0This put the satellite in an oval orbit around the&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/isro-in-tumult-lost-contact-with-the-gsat-6a\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">ISRO in tumult: lost contact with the GSAT-6A<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":18099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-editorials","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/gslvjpg.jpg?fit=1003%2C603&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704900018},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}