INDIA TELECOM SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH

India's largest telecommunications satellite is go for launch later this week from French Guiana. 
Press Trust of India reported late Sunday that the two-ton INSAT-4A satellite was in the final phases of the launch sequence that will culminate Thursday with the bird lifting off aboard an Ariane-5 rocket.

Once in place, the satellite will serve the Indian subcontinent with a dozen C-band transponders and another 12-Ku transponders that will provide television service under contract with Tata Sky.

INSAT-4A, the first of seven in the INSAT-4 series, has a projected 12-year life and weighs in at more than 4,500 pounds.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International 

___________________
The full version of this story is available online at http://www.physorg.com/news9167.html