astronomy

INSAT-3E

INSAT-3E is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand INSAT-3E rather than just read about it. In short: INSAT 3E is a defunct communication satellite built by Indian Space Research Organisation. It was launched on September 28, 2003, from the European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana on board the Ariane rocket.

Key takeaways

INSAT-3E belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect INSAT-3E to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of INSAT-3E from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

INSAT 3E is a defunct communication satellite built by Indian Space Research Organisation. It was launched on September 28, 2003, from the European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana on board the Ariane rocket. The satellite had a launch mass of 2750 kilograms. It is the 4th satellite launched in the INSAT-3 series for INSAT. It was designed for providing high-speed communication, Television, VSAT & Tele-education services and was an important landmark in Indian Space Programme. In April 2014, almost eleven years after being launched, the satellite ran out of oxidizer and a few days later, was decommissioned by the ISRO. A few days later, it was moved into a graveyard orbit.

Launch INSAT 3E was launched from Kourou, French Guiana on September 28, 2003, on European consortium Ariane space's Ariane 5-V162 launcher along with two other satellites viz. Eurobird 3 of Eutelsat and SMART-1 of European Space Agency at 4.44 am IST.It was placed into a geosynchronous transfer orbit 30 minutes after the lift-off, in 3-axis stabilised mode, with a perigee of 649 km and an apogee of 35,923 km and an inclination of 7 deg. with respect to the equator. Its master control facility is at Hassan, Karnataka (India).

Payload INSAT 3E payload consists of C-band and extended C-band transponders. It has 24 C-band transponders, having India beam coverage providing an Edge Of Coverage-Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EOC-EIRP) of 38.5 dBW and 12 upper extended C-band transponders having India beam coverage providing an EOC-EIRP of 38 dBW.

Retirement On April 1, 2014, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, while speaking to the Indian English newspaper "The Hindu", said that INSAT 3E had been decommissioned. The newspaper reported that a few days before, the satellite had run out of the on-board oxidizer, which is essential to burn the fuel that kept it Earth-locked (fixed over India) and running its daily functions. The ISRO had apparently expected that the satellite, positioned at 55 degrees E longitude, would last a few more months and that it would be smoothly replaced with GSAT-16. The Master Control Facility at Hassan moved the expired satellite into a graveyard orbit a few days after.

Services Television VSAT Communication Tele-education providing education to the poor and needy Tele-medicine administering medical services from the metros to villages & remote areas

References

External links

ISRO website Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine Commercial arm of ISRO Deptt. of Space Under Deptt. Of Science & Tech., Government Of India

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with INSAT-3E

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what INSAT-3E claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to INSAT-3E before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about INSAT-3E ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of INSAT-3E

In research: INSAT-3E appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses INSAT-3E in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: INSAT-3E is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2003 in India, Communications satellites in geostationary orbit, INSAT satellites, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for INSAT-3E outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study INSAT-3E in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what INSAT-3E means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain INSAT-3E out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is INSAT-3E in simple terms?

Why does INSAT-3E matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study INSAT-3E?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on INSAT-3E.