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INSAT-4CR successfully placed in orbit.
In a textbook launch, the rocket GSLV-F04 carrying INSAT-4CR satellite blasted off at 6:21 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, two hours behind schedule after computers put off the launch following unsatisfactory performance of vent valve of the rocket.
The scientists took about one hour 40 minutes to set right the problem and the rocket was cleared for launch at around 6:00 pm.
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F04 placed the 2,130 kg satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) at an altitude of 248 kms about 17 minutes after the liftoff.
The 49-metre tall launch vehicle, the fifth in the GSLV series, soared into the space carrying the 2130 kg (415 tonne) satellite which was manoeuvred into the orbit using its own propulsion system.
"It has been an excellent performance of the launch vehicle. There have been a number of critical moments on this happy occasion," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G Madhavan Nair told reporters here.
INSAT-4CR is a replacement of its earlier version INSAT-4C that was destroyed on July 10 last year when the launch vehicle GSLV-F02 crashed 56 seconds after lift-off due to malfunctioning of a strap-on motor.
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The successful launch of the communication satellite INSAT-4CR by the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle GSLV F04 on Sunday in Sriharikota is a morale booster for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The organisation is mourning the death of three of its employees in a car accident on August 24. The car in which two senior officials, Rajeev Lochan, scientific secretary, and S Krishnamurthy, director of publications and public relations, met with an accident near the temple town of Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh.
Lochan and driver Chandran died on the spot while Krishnamurthy succumbed to the injuries on Saturday morning.
This apart, the failure of GSLV F02 in July 2006 that carried INSAT-4C was weighing down the minds of ISRO officials.
And the latest launch too had its share of anxious moments for scientists here. It was originally slated for Saturday but was postponed by a day due to inclement weather.
Then the launch was scheduled at 4.21 pm but it was put on hold as the rocket's computers detected some anomalies in the vehicle parameters.
Subsequently, the launch was rescheduled at 6.20 pm. ISRO officials also thought of putting off the launch by a day if the vehicle did not meet the launch book parameters.
However, at the appointed time, the rocket ascended up to complete its duty.
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