ISRO’s GSLV-F08 carrying the GSAT-6A communication satellite blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Thursday. (Source: PTI) ISRO’s GSLV-F08 carrying the GSAT-6A communication satellite blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Thursday. (Source: PTI)

Less than 48 hours after launch, ISRO on Sunday confirmed that it has lost contact with its top communication satellite, GSAT-6A. The country’s premier space agency said efforts are underway to establish link with the satellite. ISRO, in a press release, said the communication link snapped when the satellite was on course to “normal operating configuration for the third and final firing” by the LAM (liquid apogee motor) engine.

“The second orbit raising operation of GSAT-6A satellite has been successfully carried out by LAM Engine firing for about 53 minutes on March 31, 2018 in the morning. After successful long duration firings, when satellite was on course to normal operating configuration for third and final firing, scheduled for April 1, 2018, communication from the satellite was lost. Efforts underway to establish link with satellite,” ISRO said in a status update of the launch mission.

The 2140-kg communication satellite GSAT-6A is aimed at helping in mobile communication even from very remote locations through hand-held ground terminals.

With a mission life of about 10 years, GSAT-6A is aimed at providing a thrust to mobile communication through multi-beam coverage facility.It is expected to be a shot in the arm for the armed forces.

After the launch, ISRO chairman K Sivan said: “In next nine months, we are going to have 10 missions. We will have the launch of high-bandwidth satellites for communication purposes.”

This is the first mission for Sivan, who assumed charge of the space agency in January.

The launch had marked the marks the 12th flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV-F08 and sixth flight with the indigenous Cryogenic upper stage. GSAT-6A, is similar to GSAT-6, a high power S-band communication satellite built on I-2K satellite bus with a mission life of about ten years, the ISRO said.

In August last year, India’s mission to launch its backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H on board PSLV-C39 ended in a failure after a technical fault on the final leg following a perfect launch. The ISRO then said the heat shield did not separate on the final leg of the launch sequence and, as a result, IRNSS-1H got stuck in the fourth stage of the rocket.

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