India conducts orbit raising of communication satellite

India's state-owned space agency Saturday said it has successfully done the first orbit raising of the country's latest communication satellite GSAT-6.

"The first orbit raising operation of GSAT-6 was successfully completed by firing the Apogee Motor for 3,385 seconds at 8.35 hrs (local time) on August 28," the Indian Space Research Organization said.

It added, "Realized orbit is 8,408 km (perigee height) by 35, 708 km (apogee height) with an inclination of 7.5 degree and an orbital period of 13 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds."

The space agency had Thursday successfully launched GSAT-6 on board the GSLV-D6 rocket from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota.