In the second orbit raising manoeuvre, conducted at 12 noon (IST) today (April 12, 2003), the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) on board INSAT-3A was fired for 53 minutes by commanding the satellite from Master Control Facility (MCF), Hassan. With this LAM firing, INSAT-3A perigee (closest point to the earth) has been raised from 11,500 km to 32,750 km. The apogee is 36,000 km and the inclination of the orbit with respect to the equatorial plane has been reduced from 0.9 deg to the present 0.1 deg. INSAT-3A now has an orbital period of 22 hour, 40 minutes. The satellite will now be in the continuous radio visibility of MCF-Hassan.

INSAT-3A was launched by Ariane-5 of Arianespace on April 10, 2003 from Kourou, French Guyana, and the first orbit raising manoeuvre was carried out from MCF-Hassan yesterday (April 11, 2003). The satellite came within the radio visibility of MCF this morning at 5:50 a.m. (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 INSAT-3A are functioning normally. Third apogee raising manoeuvre is planned on April 14, 2003.

Vice President Congratulates ISRO: Vice President of India, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat has congratulated ISRO on the successful launch of INSAT-3A on April 10, 2003 from Kourou, French Guyana. The Vice President conveyed his message over telephone to Dr K Kasturirangan, Chairman, ISRO at Kourou.