The INSAT satellite that made the system work: launched from the Space Shuttle in 1983, it provided TV, communication and weather services across India until INSAT-1D took over in 1990.
No longer operational, according to the public satellite catalogue.
INSAT-1B was launched on 30 August 1983 from the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-8, with a PAM-D upper stage.
It nearly met the same end as INSAT-1A. Its solar array would not unfold, and Ford and Indian controllers only managed to deploy it in mid-September. By then the satellite had been placed at 74° E in place of INSAT-1A. It reached full operating capability in October 1983.
Eleven of its twelve C-band transponders and its two S-band transponders gave direct TV and communication links across India, reaching thousands of remote villages. It also supplied weather and disaster-warning services.
About 35,000 Indian-built receive-only dishes, 3 to 3.6 m across, brought social and educational programmes to rural communities. The satellite ran into 1990 with all 4,375 two-way voice circuits in use, and sent back around 36,000 images of Earth.
INSAT-1D took over its main role on 17 July 1990, and INSAT-1B became a spare. It was finally moved out of geostationary orbit in August 1993, after INSAT-2B replaced it at 93.5° E.