GSAT-16 near space home as 3 orbit raising manoeuvres end

The country's latest communication satellite GSAT-16 is near its space home as all the three orbit raising manoeuvres were successfully completed today.

Indian Space Research Organisation said the three Apogee Manoeuvre Firings of GSAT-16 had been successfully completed and it was in the final orbital configuration.

"Deployment of the solar panels and the reflectors have been successfully completed. The satellite is in the final orbital configuration, ready to be steered to its designated position - 55 deg East," ISRO said on its Facebook page.

After conducting two successful orbit raising manoeuvres for two consecutive days, ISRO today performed the third orbit raising operation by firing the Apogee Motor for 289.44 seconds, at 11:15 hrs (IST).

The satellite will be placed in the Geostationary Orbit by December 12. Subsequently, its communication transponders will be switched on for in-orbit testing.

GSAT-16 will boost public and private TV and radio services, as well as large-scale Internet and telephone operations.

Boosting India's communication services, GSAT-16 was successfully launched on board Arianespace rocket from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana in the early hours of Sunday last, after a delay of two days due to bad weather.