ISRO confirms lost contact with GSAT-6A satellite, 48 hours after launch

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday confirmed that it had lost contact with GSAT-6A, the country's newest communication satellite, after the second firing of the on-board engine, which was performed on Saturday.

''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,'' a statement from the space agency said.

The 2,000 kg-plus GSAT-6A was launched on the indigenous GSLV rocket on March 29 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. It was placed in an initial elliptical orbit 169.4 km x 36,692 km.

This could also be the first big failure after K Sivan, a rocket scientist took over as the chairman of Isro in January.

Meanwhile, ISRO's of its biggest losses in communication fleet was the INSAT-2D, which died in its orbit in October 1997, just four months into work.

OneIndia News