Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket carrying seven Singaporean satellites on Sunday. The organisation announced that the satellites were deployed into the intended orbits shortly after the lift-off.
Indian Space Research Organisation on Sunday successfully launched its proven Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket that carried seven Singaporean satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh and has placed them into the intended orbits.
ISRO confirmed that around 23 minutes after the successful lift-off, the primary satellite got separated and six other co-passenger satellites followed it and subsequently were deployed into the intended orbits.
After the rocket was launched and separated successfully, the ISRO posted on their official Twitter handle, "PSLV-C56/DS-SAR Mission:
The mission is successfully accomplished. PSLV-C56 vehicle launched all seven satellites precisely into their intended orbits. Thanks to @NSIL_India and Singapore, for the contract."
Earlier ISRO shared some photos of the rocket and the launch site on Twitter announcing the date and time of the lift-off.
The commercial arm of ISRO, NewSpace India Limited, is undertaking this mission following the launch of Chandrayaan-3 earlier this month.
1. According to the reports, in this commercial mission, the primary payload being carried by ISRO's trusted workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is the DS-SAR Radar Imaging Earth Observation satellite, which has been developed under a partnership between DSTA (representing the Government of Singapore) and ST Engineering, Singapore.
2. Once deployed at an altitude of 535 km into a Near-equatorial Orbit (NEO), the 360-kg satellite will be used by various agencies within the Government of Singapore to fulfill their satellite imagery needs.
3. Reportedly, ST Engineering plans to utilize the satellite to provide their commercial customers with multi-modal and highly responsive imagery and geospatial services.
4. A Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload that this satellite carries was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries. As per reports, the payload allows DS-SAR to provide for all-weather day-and-night coverage and it is capable of imaging at 1-metre resolution.
5. On Saturday, after a 25-hour countdown, the rocket lifted off from the first launch pad at the spaceport. It was 44.4 meters tall and took off at precisely 6:31 am, producing thick fumes from its tail.
6. The co-passenger satellites are 1. VELOX-AM,a 23 kg technology demonstration microsatellite, 2. ARCADE Atmospheric Coupling and Dynamics Explorer (ARCADE), an experimental satellite, 3. SCOOB-II, a 3U nanosatellite flying a technology demonstrator payload, 4. NULloN by NuSpace, an advanced 3U nanosatellite enabling seamless Internet of Things connectivity in both urban and remote locations, 5. Galassia-2, a 3U nanosatellite that would be orbiting at low earth orbit and 6. ORB-12 STRIDER, a satellite developed under an international collaboration, the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said.
7. According to the reports, the mission successfully launched today was the 58th flight of PSLV and using the 17th vehicle with Core Alone Configuration.
8. According to the space agency, a Core Alone version of the rocket means the vehicle would not use solid strap-on motors on its sides in the first stage as compared to other variants like PSLV-XL, QL, and DL which use six, four or two boosters, respectively.
9. ISRO said that the PSLV earned its title as the 'Workhorse of ISRO' by consistently delivering various satellites into low earth orbits.
10. Sriharikota is located about 135 km from Chennai on the eastern coast.
ISRO launched its second campaign today following the highly anticipated Chandrayaan-3 mission on July 14 which took place at the second launch pad located at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Currently, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is undergoing orbit-raising manoeuvres. On July 25, ISRO scientists successfully performed the fifth orbit-raising manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft setting the stage for the planned August 1 journey towards the Moon after leaving the orbit of the Earth.
According to a report by AP, today's mission follows PSLV-C55/TeLEOS-2 mission which was successfully launched in April to serve customers in Singapore.