Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday refuted reports alleging that its INSAT-4CR satellite had "disappeared" for a while in space and later "brought back", reducing its ten-year life span by half. "It's totally false and baseless. We totally deny it," ISRO spokesperson S Satish said in Bangalore.
Satish said the satellite, launched on September two this year, had been put in the designated orbit after manoeuvres and declared operational in October. The satellite has a design life of ten years, and it has enough fuel to last its life, he said.
He was reacting to reports in a section of the media here stating that INSAT-4CR "disappeared" in space in October and it was "brought back" later after 15 days of manoeuvres that consumed fuel meant for five years. "This means the life of the satellite has come down from ten years to five years," the reports had claimed.