NAVIGATION SATELLITE LAUNCHED

Radiation might have caused GSAT-6A shutdown

Sriharikota, April 12: India on Thursday successfully launched into space a navigation satellite to join a constellation of such satellites dubbed as its home-made GPS that can serve both military and civilian needs.

The interference from the space in the form of radiation could have forced the GSAT-6A communication satellite into shutdown or safe mode, according to scientists from Indian Space Research Organisation.

After facing a major setback as the it was untraceable for close to a week, the scientists have finally traced the satellite and its orbit thereby reviving a hope of re-establishing communication with the satellite.

Explaining on how the communication with the satellite was lost, Isro chairman K.Sivan said, “Usually, whenever the satellite had disturbances like radiation or electromagnetic interference in the space environment, the satellite will go into the safe mode. Then subsequently, the communication will be established and we will go ahead. But, here the time gap was increased.”

“The satellite might have gone into some manoeuvre or something and did not come into the visibility of the antenna,” he said.

“Using some of the advance technics, we are able to find out how the satellite is moving in the orbit and we also establish its axis. It’s a very positive step and gives us additional hope to establish the communication with the satellite,” he added.