GSAT-2 was an experimental communication satellite built by the
Indian Space Research Organisation
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman o ...
(ISRO) and launched on one of the first
GSLVs. The satellite was positioned at
48 deg east longitude in the
geo-stationary orbit.
Payloads
GSAT-2 carried four C-band transponders, two K
u band transponders and a Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) payload operating in S-band forward link and C-band return link. Besides the communication payloads, GSAT-2 carried the following four piggyback experimental payloads:
*Total Radiation Dose Monitor (TRDM) to compare the estimated radiation doses inside the satellite with the directly measured radiation doses using a Radiation Sensitive Field Effect Transistor (RADFET)
*Surface Charge Monitor (SCM) to indicate the state of the charging environment in the vicinity of the spacecraft
*
Solar X-ray Spectrometer (SOXS) to study the solar flare emission in 4 keV - 60 keV
energy range using state of the art semiconductor devices and Phoswich Scintillation Detector
*Coherent Radio Beacon Experiment (CRABEX) to investigate the spatial structure, dynamic and temporal variations of Ionosphere and several aspects of equatorial electrodynamics
Weighing 1800 kg at launch, GSAT-2 incorporated a 440
newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) and sixteen 22 newton Reaction Control Thrusters for raising the satellite's orbit from Geo-stationary Transfer orbit to its final geo- stationary orbit as well as for its
attitude control
Attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of an aerospace vehicle with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, etc.
Controlling vehicle ...
. It carried 840 kg of propellant (
monomethyl hydrazine
Monomethylhydrazine (mono-methyl hydrazine, MMH) is a highly toxic, volatile hydrazine derivative with the chemical formula . It is used as a rocket propellant in bipropellant rocket engines because it is hypergolic with various oxidizers such as ...
and
MON-3).
Measurements
GSAT-2 measures 9.55 m in length in its final in-orbit configuration. It is 3-axis body stabilised using Sun and Earth sensors, momentum and reaction wheels,
magnetic torquers A magnetorquer or magnetic torquer (also known as a torque rod) is a satellite system for attitude control, detumbling, and stabilization built from electromagnetic coils. The magnetorquer creates a magnetic dipole that interfaces with an ambient ma ...
and bi-propellant thrusters. Its solar array generates 1380 W power, backed up by two 24
A·h
An ampere hour or amp hour (symbol: A⋅h or A h; often simplified as Ah) is a unit of electric charge, having dimensions of electric current multiplied by time, equal to the charge transferred by a steady current of one ampere flowing fo ...
Ni-Cd batteries.
Positioning
After its launch into Geo-synchronous transfer orbit by
GSLV-D2, GSAT-2 it was taken to its final geo-stationary orbit by firing the liquid apogee motor in phases. After it reached the geo-stationary orbit, its antenna and solar Panels were deployed and the satellite was finally placed in its allocated slot of 48° east longitude.
See also
*
List of Indian satellites
References
External links
ISRO: GSAT-2
{{Orbital launches in 2003
Communications satellites in geostationary orbit
Spacecraft launched in 2003
GSAT satellites
2003 in India
Spacecraft launched by GSLV rockets