Thales Alenia Space and Indosat announced today that the Launch Early Operation Phase (LEOP) has been successfully completed and the Palapa-D communications satellite is now in the nominal geostationary orbit (GEO). The solar panels and antennas have been deployed, and the payload in-orbit testing (IOT) phase is ready to start.
Indonesian communication satellite Palapa D entered its geosynchronous orbit on September 9, despite an ignition failure on the rocket that carried the satellite more than a week ago, the satellite's manufacturer said Saturday. The satellite had conducted a number of orbit manoeuvres in order to get into the geosynchronous orbit, and was in normal state, the company said.
Engineers at Thales Alenia Space have managed to communicate with the Palapa D1 satellite and have been able to boost the orbit so that the satellite can be positioned at the intended 113 degrees East orbital slot. There is no information on how much of the onboard fuel was used to carry out this manoeuvre, and consequently, how it would affect the operational life of the satellite.
An Indonesian communications satellite launched from China two days ago has had its orbit corrected, China's Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, after it failed to enter a preset path.
The satellite was launched atop a Chinese-made Long March 3B rocket. The first and second stages of the rocket entered space normally, but the third stage failed during a second-time ignition. Read more
"Peluncuran satelit PALAPA-D berhasil dilakukan dalam kondisi cuaca yang sangat mendukung sehingga proses peluncuran berjalan dengan lancar" - President Director & CEO Indosat, Harry Sasongko, usai menyaksikan peluncuran di Xichang, China, dalam keterangan persnya, Senin.