Indian satellite on course to final orbit after rocket launch

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2007

BANGALORE, India (AFP) — An Indian satellite designed to boost television and communication services was on course Tuesday to reach its final orbit after its delayed launch by rocket, the national space agency said.

"Everything is going well," S. Krishnamurthy, spokesman for the Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organisation, told AFP.

"We are monitoring the satellite and will plan the next manoeuvre for the following days."

On Tuesday, the INSAT-4B satellite was nudged into its "intermediate orbit" at a height of between 14,000 and 15,000 kilometres (8,680 miles and 9,300 miles) above the equator, Krishnamurthy said.

It was the first "critical" orbit-raising manoeuvre carried out by Indian scientists on the satellite, he said.

All...