INSAT-4C was an Indian communications satellite which was lost in a launch failure in 2006. Had it reached orbit, it would have formed part of the Indian National Satellite System. Launched in 2007, it was intended to have operated in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 73.97° east. The INSAT-4CR satellite, launched in September 2007, replaced it.[2]
Built by the Indian Space Research Organisation, INSAT-4C was based upon the I-2K satellite bus. It had a dry mass of 950 kg, or 2168 kg when fully fuelled. It was expected to have operated for ten years. The satellite carried twelve Ku band transponders, with two solar arrays to generate power.[3]
ISRO launched INSAT-4C on the second operational flight of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, which was flying in the Mk.I configuration. The launch took place from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre; the first time the pad was used by a GSLV.[4]