PSLV-C45 carrying India's EMISAT and 28 foreign satellites lifts off
What's the story
ISRO's PSLV C45 lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota today, carrying India's EMISAT satellite along with 28 nanosatellites of global customers.
The nearly 50-meter tall rocket, a new variant of ISRO's trusted workhorse PSLV-QL, blasted off from the second launch pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) at 9.27AM.
The EMISAT satellite is aimed at electromagnetic measurement.
Here's more.
Details
Mission marks several firsts to the credit of ISRO
The mission marks several firsts to the credit of ISRO, as it would maneuver satellites in various orbits and orbital-experiments, including on maritime satellite applications.
According to ISRO, a new variant of the rocket PSLV-QL equipped with four Strap-On motors in the first stage is used for the launch.
PSLV was used in India's two key missions, Chandrayaan (2008) and Mars Orbiter (2013).
Information
PSLV is a reliable and versatile launch vehicle for ISRO
PSLV is a reliable and versatile launch vehicle for ISRO with 39 consecutive successful flights till June 2017 and five-in-a-row from January 2018. The rocket has encountered only two failures so far. Like, its maiden developmental flight, which had ended unsuccessful, way back in 1993.
Failures
Earlier, IRNSS-1H couldn't be released into orbit due to PSLV-C39
The second fault occurred in September 2017, when the flight went off without any hitch but the IRNSS-1H Satellite could not be released into orbit after the PSLV-C39's heat shield failed to open on reaching the orbit.
In the PSLV-C45 mission, the scientists of ISRO would place the satellites and payloads in three different orbits, a first for the agency.
Stages
17 minutes after injecting EMISAT, scientists restarted the fourth stage
After injecting the 436 kg primary satellite EMISAT, intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement, at around 17 minutes from lift off in a 749 km orbit, the scientists would start the fourth stage again.
ISRO, headquartered in Bengaluru, said that this was the first time it has been envisaged to provide a microgravity environment for research organizations and academic institutes to perform experiments.
Information
The PS4-fourth stage hosts three payloads in this mission
The PS4-fourth stage hosts three payloads in this mission. They are automatic identification system from ISRO for maritime satellite applications capturing messages transmitted from ships. Automatic Packet Repeating System from AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation), India will assist amateur radio-operators in tracking and monitoring position-data.
Others
Other 28 satellites are from Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland and US
Advanced Retarding Potential Analyzer for lonospheric Studies (ARIS) from Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) is going to assist the structural and composition studies of the ionosphere.
The other 28 international satellites, 25 3U type, two 6U type, and one 2U type nanosatellites, are from Lithuania (two), Spain (one), Switzerland (one) and the United States (24).
GSAT-31
ISRO launched communication satellite GSAT-31 in February from French Guiana
All these satellites are being launched under commercial arrangements, the ISRO said.
In February, the space agency launched India's communication satellite GSAT-31 from the European launch service provider Ariane from French Guiana.
The satellite with a mission life of 15 years is providing continuity to operational services on some of the in-orbit satellites.
It is also augmenting the Ku-band transponder capacity in Geostationary Orbit.