All preparations have been made for the launch of ISRO's multipurpose satellite, INSAT-3A, on board the 160th flight of Ariane from Kourou, French Guyana. The launch window for the 160th flight of Ariane, carrying INSAT-3A and its co-passenger, GALAXY-XII of US, is fixed between 04.19 am and 05.00 am IST on April 9, 2003 (22:49 pm to 23:30 pm GMT on April 8, 2003).

The Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka will take control of INSAT-3A as soon as it is launched into Geosynchronous Tranfer Orbit.

INSAT-3A is a multipurpose satellite for providing telecommunication, television broadcasting, meteorology and satellite aided search and rescue services. It carries 12 C-band, 6 upper extended C-band, 6 Ku-band and one search and rescue transponders. The meteorological instruments consist of Very High Resolution Radiometer, a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera and a data relay transponder.

The Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka will take ontrol of INSAT-3A soon after its injection into Geosynchronous Tranfer Orbit. In the following days, operations like orbit raising manoeuvres to take the satellite into the final Geostationary Orbit, deployment of solar arrays, antennas and solar sail, 3-axes stabilisation, etc., will be conducted from MCF. The MCF will also carry out regular operations and control of the satellite during its design life:

Live Telecast: The launch of INSAT-3A from Kourou will be telecast live by Doordarshan (DD-1) from 3.59 am (IST) on April 9, 2003.