In the second orbit-raising exercise, the perigee (nearest point to earth) of GSAT-10 satellite has successfully been raised to 31,822 km from 16,427 km this afternoon (October 01, 2012) by using the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM). The apogee (farthest point to earth) of the orbit is maintained at 35,734 km. After today's operation, the inclination of GSAT-10 with respect to equatorial plane has also been brought closer to the equator at 0.2 degree. Currently, the orbital period of GSAT-10 satellite is 22 hours 14 minutes.

This orbit raising operation started today at 13:16 hrs IST by commanding the satellite to fire the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM), for duration close to 38 minutes. This was the second of the three orbit raising manoeuvres planned for placing the GSAT-10 in the Geostationary Orbit.

The next, and also the last, orbit-raising manoeuvre is planned on the morning of October 3, 2012. The two solar panels and the two dual gridded reflectors will also be deployed later in the same day.

Read More