ISRO loses contact with communication satellite GSAT-6A, 48 hours after its launch

In a major setback, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday lost contact with the GSAT-6A, India's most powerful communication satellite, in less than 48 hours of its launch.

"The second orbit raising operation of GSAT-6A satellite has been successfully carried out by LAM Engine firing for about 53 minutes on March 31 in the morning. After the successful long-duration firings, when the satellite was on course to normal operating configurations for the third and final firing, communication from the satellite was lost. Efforts are underway to establish the link with the satellite," ISRO said on its official website on Sunday.

"Efforts are underway to establish the link with the satellite," a statement said.

However, the space agency chose to remain tight-lipped for entire Saturday, though news started creeping around that the satellite suffered a serious setback and scientists and engineers are working hard to correct the glitch in its power system.

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People close to the development suggest that the aberration came into light just after the second orbit-raising carried out successfully at around 9:22 PM on March 30.

However, top officials at ISRO are yet to explain what exactly went wrong with the satellite and whether it can be retrieved or not.

According to scientists, the 2,066-ton home-made satellite, built at a cost of Rs. 270 crore, was able to send and receive signals from hand-held devices. The GSLV-F08/GSAT-6A was successfully launched on Thursday from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

GSLV-F08 Onboard Camera Videohttps://t.co/ANqhBBcu2d pic.twitter.com/HsTV3gXEKJ

— ISRO (@isro) March 29, 2018

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