Hassan and Bhopal: the two campuses that fly every Indian satellite parked over the equator

Background

A communication or weather satellite sitting over the equator has to be nudged, watched and commanded every day of its working life, and in India that duty belongs to one establishment. The Master Control Facility works from two campuses, one at Hassan in Karnataka and the other at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. Between them they monitor and control all of the space agency's geo-stationary satellites. The work begins soon after launch, when the facility raises the satellite from its initial orbit to the position it is meant to occupy. It then tests the payload in orbit and keeps the satellite working for the rest of its life. Day to day this means unbroken tracking, telemetry and commanding, along with special operations such as handling eclipses, station-keeping manoeuvres and recovery when something goes wrong. The facility also talks to the agencies that use the satellites, so that a planned manoeuvre disturbs their services as little as possible.