back to article Indian comms satellite gives boffins back home the silent treatment

The India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has lost contact with GSAT-6A during a second firing of thrusters to nudge the 2,000kg telecommunications satellite towards an operational orbit. The launch went well, with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F08) lobbing the satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer …

  1. }{amis}{
    Go

    Can you hear me Major Tom

    Ground control to Major Tom your circuits dead theirs something wrong......

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Can you hear me Major Tom

      "...theirs something wrong..."

      there's

    2. Big-nosed Pengie

      Re: Can you hear me Major Tom

      Circuit's

  2. This post has been deleted by its author

  3. Pen-y-gors

    Not good news

    ...for the hundreds of call-centre staff on board.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    warranty capacitor

    it's just the cheap 10uF PSU electrolytic that has failed a couple of years early; perhaps the low-lead solder holding it crystallised during the firing impulse? Oh, sorry, that was two days ago for all these poisson d'avrils.

    Good Luck Hindustan, hope GSAT-6A gets back in touch soon and echoes "Saare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: warranty capacitor

      savaal hee nahin

  5. Christian Berger

    It's actually mostly only shrug-worthy for the operator

    Satellites typically are fairly well insured against such things, and you typically build at the very least 2 satellites which are identical (one that goes up, one to use as an engineering model) so it should be fairly quick to get a new one to send up. The insurance company pays for that satellite and its new launch.

    Failed satellite launches are a normal thing in the satellite industry.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: It's actually mostly only shrug-worthy for the operator

      "Satellites typically are fairly well insured against such things"

      If you get a bad track record for such things the insurance premiums will go up, just like they do for 18 - 24 year-old drivers.

    2. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: Failed satellite launches are a normal thing in the satellite industry.

      Except that the launch itself went fine, it's the satellite that's on the blink. I don't think they insure that.

      What they generally insure is if the launcher goes boom and the satellite is lost in the blast. That didn't happen, so no insurance.

    3. PeterM42
      Alert

      Re: It's actually mostly only shrug-worthy for the operator

      "Failed satellite launches are a normal thing in the satellite industry."

      After all - it IS rocket science!

      1. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: It's actually mostly only shrug-worthy for the operator

        "After all - it IS rocket science!"

        Nope. It's rocket engineering.

        The science is the easy part,

  6. Wolfclaw

    Wrong Priorities

    Surely India should concentrate on trying to feed, educate it's population, stamp out child weddings, rape and the killing of newborn females, before looking to the stars and yet happy to take aid frrom other countries?

    1. harmjschoonhoven

      Re: Wrong Priorities

      India already educated part of its population to build nuclear warheads.

    2. Proud Father

      Re: Wrong Priorities

      "Surely India should concentrate on trying to feed, educate it's population, stamp out child weddings, rape and the killing of newborn females, before looking to the stars and yet happy to take aid frrom other countries?"

      This! Aid money is not for building satellites!

      1. slashforroses

        Re: Wrong Priorities - Exactly

        http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-homeless-crisis-overview-20180225-htmlstory.html

        Might want to fix our problems before pointing fingers.

        Charity begins at home.

    3. Pen-y-gors

      Re: Wrong Priorities

      And one of the best tools for educating people, and improving economic possibilities is the mobile phone, so trying to improve national comms capability makes a lot of sense for India. In parts of Africa the humble feature phone allows people to check prices at nearby markets, and to transfer money without a bank account. And as for education...where do I start?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Wrong Priorities

        Mobile phone networks don't use satellites.

      2. HmmmYes

        Re: Wrong Priorities

        Use a shitter, potty, crapper, toilet.

        Indian - has a space program and the majority of its pop. shitting in the bushes.

    4. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Thumb Down

      Re: Wrong Priorities

      "Surely India should concentrate on trying to feed, educate it's population, "

      You could say the same for any nation lofting satellites. The EU, USA, Russia, China all have problems with poverty, homelessness, crime etc. that could be helped by better funding the correct agencies instead of "wasting" it in space. Or you could try to improve the industrial capacity of the nation as a whole.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Wrong Priorities

        "Surely India should concentrate on trying to feed, educate it's population, "....You could say the same for any nation lofting satellites. The EU, USA, Russia, China all have problems with poverty, homelessness, crime etc

        They do, but not on the scale of problems India faces. So maybe, in fact, India should stop dicking about with the traditional trinkets of Western pride (nuclear weapons, space programmes, a country-owned GPS, aircraft carriers etc) and solve problems that matter for its long suffering and under-served people?

        I very much doubt Gandhi would approve of these expensive "me too" tokens.

    5. Alan Brown Silver badge

      Re: Wrong Priorities

      "Surely India should concentrate on"

      One of the greatest tools for improving farming in poor rural areas has been satellite observation of ground features and one of the greatest tools for empowering rural farmers has been the mobile phone's ability to allow them to ensure the crop is sold for a decnt price befdore they hit town instead of relying on an unscrupulous middleman who would rip them off with low buy prices and then sell into local markets at a high rate. Farmers now KNOW the going rates before they set foot out the gate.

      You were saying?

      1. amlendu kumar
        Thumb Up

        Re: Wrong Priorities

        ISRO is a business and launches satellites for many countries. Overall ISRO competes with other countries as its cheaper and has had a high success rate.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Possible explanation...

    One system requirement said that units of measurement would be in metres and kilometres. Another said it should be in miles. The software developer saw the conflicting requirements and did exactly what he was told and used both. Why? Because he was too scared to raise the issue with his boss.

  8. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    Is this about a communications satellite or strawmen?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What's The Frequency, Dan?

    Perhaps a mistranslation of "communication" in the specs?

    Or if the satellite is of the female gender: "I shouldn't have to tell you what is wrong."

  10. Fungus Bob
    Trollface

    Shouldn't have had the thing built in India...

  11. bwesley

    They need an amateur

    They need to contact Scott Tilley, the guy who found the Zuma satellite.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Could they please do the needful and try turning it off and on again?

  13. PeterM42
    Facepalm

    Why don't they.....

    ...call the Help Desk?

    Oh Wait......!

  14. Torchy

    We probably paid for it.

    Such a shame that British foreign aid has failed so early into this program to feed the lower castes.

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