ISRO PSLV -C 38 LAUNCH
THE ROCKET CARRYS 31 SATELLITES IN TO ORBIT
At 9.29 am today, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) will launch the PSLV-C38 rocket on a mission to put 31 satellites into orbit. The launch will happen from the First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The workhorse of the Indian space program, the PSLV has proven to be India’s most reliable, space worthy rocket.
The rocket will carry satellites from all over the world, including satellites from Austria, Chile, Germany, Japan, UK and USA. In total, the payload to be taken to orbit weighs in at 955 kg.
The rocket will be launched in an ‘XL’ configuration and will be its 40th launch since it was put into service.
The primary mission of the satellite is to put a CartoSat 2 series satellite into orbit. The most recent satellite in the series was launched on the PSLV-C37 mission, which placed a Record breaking 104 satellites into orbit on 15 February, 2017.
Another Indian satellite on board the rocket is the NIUSAT MARK I, a 15 kg satellite from the Noorul Islam University. This satellite features an RGB multispectral camera and a short-wave infrared camera. It will support disaster relief operations.
Eight of the remaining satellites are part of the QB50 swarm of cubesats which will be launched in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 km.
It will be the 17th flight of the four-stage PSLV in the extended version with strap-on motors
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set for the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle carrying the Cartosat-2 series satellite, along with 30 co-passenger satellites on Friday morning.
The 28-hour countdown for the PSLV- C38 mission began at 5.29 a.m. on Thursday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
It will be the 17th flight of the four-stage PSLV in the XL (extended) version with strap-on motors.
The rocket weighing 320 tonnes at lift-off uses solid propellant for the first and third stage and the strap-ons, while the second and fourth stage use liquid propellant.
30 other satellites
The 31 satellites, together weighing 955 kg, will be lifted into a 505-km polar sun synchronous orbit.
“This will be the second highest number of satellites to be launched by ISRO using a single rocket”, says PSLV project director B. Jayakumar. In February this year, the PSLV-C37 mission launched 104 satellites into orbit, in a milestone achievement.
The Cartosat-2 earth observation satellite, weighing 712 kg, is the primary payload aboard PSLV-C38 and will be the first to be injected into orbit, 16 minutes from lift-off. The imagery provided by the satellite will be used for cartographic applications, coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, water distribution, land use mapping and geographical information system applications.
Cartosat-2 is designed for a lifespan of five years, according to ISRO.
14 countries
The PSLV-C38 payload includes a nano satellite designed and developed by the Noorul Islam University in Kanyakumari district.
The rest of the payload comprises 29 nano satellites from 14 countries — Austria, Belgium, Chile, the Czech republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, United Kingdom and the U.S.
They are being launched as part of the commercial pact between the Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO, and the international customers.
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