ISRO launches earth observation satellite from Sriharikota

This is the 56th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle of ISRO and 24th flight of the extended PSLV-XL version

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) PSLV-C54 carrying an earth observation satellite and eight nano-satellites successfully lifted off from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota near here.

The PSLV rocket, which blasted off from the launch pad at 11.56 am, placed all the nine satellites into their intended orbits in two hours, making it the longest mission of the ISRO. This is the 56thflight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, known as ISRO’s warhorse and “most reliable” rocket, and 24th flight of the extended PSLV-XL version.

While the primary satellite (EOS-06) was separated in Orbit-1, two Orbit Change Thrusters (OCTs) introduced in the propulsion bay ring of the rocket subsequently changed the orbit after which the remaining eight were placed in different orbits in Orbit-2.

Watch | ISRO gears up for PSLV-C54’s launch from Sriharikota

“The PSLV-C54 mission is declared successful with all nine satellites being placed precisely into their intended orbits. I congratulate the entire team at ISRO for yet another successful launch,” ISRO chairman S Somnath told scientists.

Of the eight satellites, ISRO Nano Satellite-2 for Bhutan (INS-2B) is a joint collaboration of India and Bhutan, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar terming the successful launch of the satellite with two payloads as a “historic milestone” in bilateral cooperation with the tiny kingdom.

“Our two sides have taken their relationship to new and emerging areas in the 21st century,” Jaishankar said, addressing the launch event via video-conferencing.

The successful launch of the PSLV mission comes a week after the ISRO launched the country’s first privately-built satellite, Vikram-S, from its spaceport in Sriharikota.

Other customer payloads are Anand, four satellites of Astrocast, and two satellites of Thybolt. Scientists said the mission will be one of the longest undertaken by the ISRO as they have to engage the rocket to change orbits.

EOS-06, which is the third generation satellite in the Oceansat series, is aimed at providing continuity in services of Oceansat-2 spacecraft with enhanced payload specifications as well as application areas.

Scientists said the other objectives of the primary satellite is to ensure the data continuity of ocean colour and wind vector data to sustain the operational applications, and to develop and improve related algorithms and data products to serve in well- established application areas and to enhance the mission utility.

The satellite will also improve applications, some additional datasets such as sea surface temperature and more bands in the optical region for fluorescence and in the infrared region for atmospheric corrections are accommodated.

ISRO nano satellite-2 spacecraft is configured with INS-2 bus which will have two payloads -- NanoMx and APRS-Digipeater. While NanoMx is a multispectral optical imaging payload developed by Space Applications Centre (SAC), APRS-Digipeater payload is jointly developed by DITT- Bhutan and URSC.

The Anand Nano satellite will demonstrate the capabilities and commercial applications of miniaturized earth-observation cameras for earth observation using a microsatellite in Low Earth Orbit.

Astrocast, a 3U spacecraft, is a technology demonstrator satellite for the Internet of Things (IoT) as the payload. There are 4 nos. of Astrocast Satellites in this mission. These spacecraft are housed within an ISISpace QuadPack dispenser, while Thybolt is a 0.5U spacecraft bus that includes a communication payload to enable rapid technology demonstration and constellation development for multiple users.