INSAT-2E completes 13 years of successful operation

Bangalore: After 13 years of operation, INSAT-2E, the last of the five satellites in the INSAT-2 series, has successfully completed its mission life. INSAT-2E was built with a planned mission life of 12 years and continued to function beyond that, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here today. Launched on April 3, 1999 by the European Ariane-5 launcher, INSAT-2E was positioned at 830 East longitude in the geostationary orbit. INSAT-2E carried 14 C-band and 5 lower extended C-band transponders for various communication services. The satellite also carried a Very High Resolution Radiometer and a Charge Coupled Device camera for meteorological observation. The 11 communication transponders of 36 MHz bandwidth onboard INSAT-2E were leased to International Telecommunication Satellite Organisation (INTELSAT), the first such lease from an Indian satellite. INSAT-2E was controlled from Master Control Facility at Hassan.