Exclusive education sat
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F-01), carrying EDUSAT, India's exclusive satellite for educational services, was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, at 4.01 p.m. September 20. The GSLV-F-01, carrying the 1,950-kg satellite, soared majestically into the sky.
As the 49-metre-tall, three-stage GSLV, weighing 414 tonnes, rose into the sky from this spindle-shaped island, off the Bay of Bengal, there was jubilation all round with many scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), hugging each other and clapping their hands.
The GSLV placed the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) within 17 minutes after the lift-off, and from GTO, the satellite reached the 36,000-km-high geostationary orbit (GSO), by firing, in stages, its on-board liquid apogee motor (LAM).
In GSO, the satellite was co-located with Kalpana-1 and INSAT-3C satellites. Built for a mission life of seven years, EDUSAT is mainly intended to meet the demand for an interactive satellite-based distance education system for the country.
Designed as GSLV (F-01), this is the first operational (F-01) flight of the launch vehicle. In the first two 'developmental test flights', conducted in April 2001 and May last year, the GSLV had successfully placed GSAT-1 and GSAT-2 experimental satellites into
GTO.
The launch vehicle consists of a core motor with 138 tonne of solid propellant and four strap-on motors in the first stage, 39 tonnes of hypergolic liquid propellants in the second and middle stage and 12.5 tonnes of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in the third cryogenic stage, supplied by Russia.
The EDUSAT, which will provide a fillip to distance education in the entire country, has specially been configured for the audio-visual medium, employing digital interactive classroom and multi-media, multi-centric system.
The satellite has multiple regional beams covering different parts of India - five Ku-band transponders with spot beams covering northern, north-eastern, eastern, southern and western regions, a Ku-band transponder with its 'footprint' covering the Indian mainland region and six other C-band transponders with their footprints covering India.
Dr E Balagurusamy, Vice-Chancellor, Anna University, Kasturirangan, former ISRO chairman and Rajya Sabha member, and many other invitees were present at the mission control during the launch.
According to ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair, this is the first time that a heavy satellite has been launched by ISRO with GSLV. This is also the first time that any satellite has been positioned in orbit with such high precision. This launch also proves to the world the ability of the country to develop and place the satellite right on the path with great precision.
The chairman assured that there would be many more such successful missions in the coming years.Integration of GSLV-F0-1 on the launch pad commenced on July 7, 2004. EDUSAT, the first exclusive satellite for educational services, was transported to SDSC SHAR in the first week of August.
EDUSAT is primarily meant for providing connectivity to school, college and higher levels of education and also to support non-formal
education, including developmental communication. The scope of the EDUSAT programme is planned to be realised in three phases.
In the first phase of pilot projects, a Ku-band transponder on board INSAT-3B, which is already in orbit, is being used. In this phase, Visveswaraiah Technological University (VTU) in Karnataka, Y B Chavan State Open University in Maharashtra and the Rajiv Gandhi Technical University in Madhya Pradesh are covered.
In the second phase, EDUSAT will be used in a semi-operational mode with at least one uplink in each of the five spot beams. About 100-200 classrooms will be connected in each beam. Coverage will be extended to two more states and one national institution.
In the third phase, EDUSAT network is expected to become fully operational. ISRO will provide technical and managerial support in the replication of EDUSAT ground systems to manufacturers and service providers. End-users are expected to provide funds for this. In this phase, ground infrastructure to meet the country's educational needs will be built and during this period, EDUSAT will be able to support about 25 to 30 uplinks and about 5,000 remote terminals per uplink.
The indigenous realisation and launch of EDUSAT will provide a substantial boost to countrywide distance education in India. With this, ISRO has successfully crossed another milestone.
The final count down began at 1.00 a.m. September 19. This is the first operational flight of GSLV built by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.
While ISRO will provide the space segment for EDUSAT system and demonstrate the efficacy of the satellite system for interactive distance education, content generation will be the responsibility of the user agencies. The indigenous realisation and launch of EDUSAT will provide a significant boost to country-wide distance education in India.
President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair and the scientists and expressed their happiness about the successful launch of
EDUSAT.
