PSLV-C45 lifts off with EMISAT, 28 foreign satellites

PSLV-C45 lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota carrying EMISAT and 28 customer satellites on board

Current Affairs: India’s latest observation satellite EMISAT took off smoothly on Monday morning with Isro placing payloads in three orbits and conducting space experiments for the first time.

The launch vehicle PSLV-C45 blasted off from the Isro spaceport, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 09:27 am today. The rocket is carrying an electronic intelligence satellite Emisat for the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and 28 third-party satellites. This is the first mission of the PSLV in which its PSLV-QL variant (4 XL Strap-on motors) is being flown. The mission marks several firsts to the credit of the space agency as it would manoeuvre satellites in various orbits and orbital experiments including on maritime satellite applications.

The primary satellite in the rocket is EMISAT, a satellite based on Isro’s Indian Mini Satellite -2 (IMS-2) bus platform. It is an electronic intelligence satellite for DRDO. The mission would witness the Isro placing payloads three orbits and conducting space experiments.

The principal “first-time” innovation this time is the multiple orbits involved in the mission. The main satellite EMISAT and the 28 customer satellites will be ed into two different orbits, and later, the fourth stage engine of the rocket will be taken to a third orbit in space. A new variant of the rocket PSLV-QL equipped with four Strap-On motors in the first stage is used for the launch.

This is the 47th mission for Isro’s PSLV programme.

So 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, they would restart the fourth stage again. During this initiative, all the other 28 customer satellites would be released by lowering the fourth state to around 504 kms orbit. Again, the fourth stage would be reignited and further lowered to 485 kms orbit to serve as an orbital platform for carrying out space borne experimentations for the first time in Isro’s history…

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16 nanosatellites made by the US placed into the sun-synchronous orbit of the Earth

India on Friday launched a polar rocket with 31 satellites, including three Indian and 28 of six other nations from its spaceport in Sriharikota. The 44.4-metre tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40) roared into a clear sky after a perfect lift-off at 9.29 a.m. after a 28-hour countdown. The 320-tonne rocket will eject the satellites one-by-one and deploy them into the earth's lower orbit about 17 minutes and 18 seconds after the lift-off.

Isro Chairman designate K Sivan says PSLVC40 is special for Isro since it is coming after a failure 4.5 months back.

PSLVC40 Performance was excellent and entire system perfectly. Its a green flag for high profile missions.

S Somanath, Director, LPSC says today's successful launch is a reassurance to all of us about PSLV. The previous launch failed due to a "very minor" issue.

Here's all you should know about the launch:

• For the mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) used PSLV-C40 launch vehicle, which is carrying 31 satellites, including three from India and 28 from six other countries.
• The weather observation 'Cartosat-2 Series' satellite and 29 others will be inserted into a 505-kilometre sun-synchronous orbit after about seventeen and a half minutes since its liftoff.
• This satellite is the seventh remote sensing satellite in its series and has the mission life of five years.
• Its uses include monitoring urban and rural applications, coastal land use regulation, managing services like road networks and water distribution, detecting changes in geographical features and creation of land use maps.
• The flight is the first since the setback suffered by the PSLV in August last and is set to demonstrate that the workhorse rocket is back in the game for reliable satellite launches in the low earth and polar orbits....Read more