GSAT-4

GSAT-4, also known as HealthSat, was an

experimental communication and navigation
satellite launched in April 2010 by the Indian Space
Research Organisation on the maiden flight of the
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.II
rocket.[1] It failed to reach orbit after the rocket's
third stage malfunctioned.[2] The third stage was
the first Indian-built cryogenic-fuelled upper stage,
and was making its first flight. The ISRO suspects
that the failure was caused by the third stage not
igniting.[3]
 GSAT-4

GSAT-4

Mission type Communication

Operator ISRO

Mission duration 7 years (planned)

Failed to orbit

Spacecraft properties

Bus I-2K

Manufacturer ISRO Satellite Centre

Space Applications Centre

Launch mass 2,220 kilograms (4,890 lb)

Power 2,760 watts

Start of mission

Launch date 15 April 2010, 10:57 UTC

Rocket GSLV Mk.II D3
Launch site Satish Dhawan SLP

Orbital parameters

Reference system Geocentric

Regime Geostationary

Longitude 82° East

Epoch Planned

Transponders

Band Ka-band

GSAT
 

Satellite
Weighing around two tons, GSAT-4 carried a multi-
channel, Ka-band, bent pipe and regenerative
transponder, and a navigation payload in the C, L1,
and L5 bands. Designed to guide civil and military
aircraft, GSAT-4 was to have employed several new
technologies such as a bus management unit,
miniaturised dynamically tuned gyros, lithium-ion
battery, 70 volt bus for Ka-band travelling-wave
tube amplifiers, and electric propulsion. GSAT-4
also incorporated technological experiments like
on-board structural dynamic experiment, thermal
control coating experiment and vibration beam
accelerometer. With a lift-off mass of about 2,180
kilograms (4,810 lb), the spacecraft was to have
generated a maximum of 2,760 W of power.[4][5]

GSAT-4 was also to have been the first Indian

spacecraft to employ ion propulsion.[4] Four Hall
effect thrusters would have been used for north–
south station keeping operations. Two types of
Hall effect thrusters are developed by ISRO
Satellite Centre (ISAC) and Liquid Propulsion
Systems Centre (LPSC).

Secondary payloads …
GSAT-4 carried the first GPS Aided Geo Augmented
Navigation, or GAGAN, navigation payload. GSAT-4
was also intended to carry to the Israeli TAUVEX-2
space telescope array. Due to concerns that the
new upper stage may have reduced the rocket's
payload capacity, ISRO decided to remove TAUVEX
in order to decrease the mass of the payload.[5]
GAGAN was still flown.

GAGAN consisted of a Ka band bent pipe

transponder and a regenerative transponder.

Launch
GSAT-4 was launched on the maiden flight of the
GSLV Mk.II rocket, GSLV D3, flying from the Second
Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
Its third stage was fitted with a new Indian-built
cryogenic engine, which was intended to make the
GSLV reliant on only Indian technology, since
earlier launches had used Russian engines. GSLV
D3 was the sixth flight of the Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle across all variants.

The rocket was 40.39 metres (132.5 ft) in length

minus its payload fairing, and consisted of a solid-
fuelled S139 first stage augmented by four L40H
hypergolically-fuelled strapons, burning UDMH as
fuel and N2O4 as oxidiser. The second stage used
the same hypergolic propellants, whilst the third
stage was the new Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS),
burning liquid hydrogen oxidised by liquid oxygen.

The rocket's first and second stages performed

normally, and at the time controllers reported that
third stage ignition had occurred. However, shortly
afterwards the rocket began to under-perform,
tumbling out of control, and deviating from its
planned trajectory.[6] Around 300 seconds into the
flight, contact with the rocket was lost. Initial
analysis of the data suggested that the vernier
thrusters, used to provide attitude control, had
failed to ignite due to engineering problems.[2] On
17 April, ISRO announced that further analysis of
the data indicated that the third stage main engine
had not ignited either.[3] According to ISRO,
mission failed after the fuel turbo pump that
supplied fuel to the cryogenic engine had stopped
working a second after ignition.[7]

References
1. "Indian Communication Satellites" . Indian Space
Research Organisation. Archived from the original
on 23 December 2007.
2. Subramanian, T. S. (15 April 2010). "India's
indigenous GSLV D3 rocket fails in mission" . The
Hindu. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
3. Subramanian, T. S. (17 April 2010). "Why didn't the
cryogenic engine ignite?" . The Hindu. Retrieved
17 April 2010.
4. "GSLV-D3 / GSAT-4" (PDF). ISRO. April 2010.
Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February
2014. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
 5. Krebs, Gunter. "GSat 4 (HealthSat)" . Gunter's Space
Page. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
. "India's GSLV Mission fails" . NDTV. 15 April 2010.
Retrieved 15 April 2010.
7. "Cause of GSLV-D3 failure analysed" . Deccan
Herald. Wayback Machine. Archived from the
original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February
2018.

External links
"GSLV-D3 ". ISRO. Retrieved 22 October 2011.

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