If Indian
Space Research Organisation (Isro) successfully launches 104 satellites at one
go on Wednesday , the country's nearly halfa-century-old space programme will
create a new world record and take a giant leap in space technology.
The
much-awaited historic launch which has attracted not only interest within the
country , but abroad as well, is scheduled for 9.28am at the Satish Dhawan
Space Centre, Sriharikota. The rocket for the record-breaking mission is the
advanced version of the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle designated
PSLV-Xl.
An Isro
official told TOI that the mission called for a considerable amount of
precision as the challenge lay in deploying the satellites in a way they do not
collide. “After lift-off, the first satellite to go into orbit will be the
indigenous Cartosat-2 series followed by two Isro nano satellites,“ he said.
Following
this, 101 international nano satellites will be deployed in
`quadpacks'.“Essentially , these quadpacks are like boxes and each of them will
contain three or four satellites. Once the quadpacks leave the fourth stage of
the rocket, the tiny nano and macro satellites will move out of the quadpacks
and enter orbit,'' he explained, emphasising that it will be a an extremely
precise manoeuvre. All 104 satellites will be deployed in a 505km polar sun
synchronous orbit at rapid intervals in a span of 28 minutes.
Isro
officials have all along maintained that Wednesday's mission was not to break
any record, but merely to utilise the additional capacity of PSLV . “The
success of this mission will go a long way in increasing India's share in the
global satellite market,'' an official said. The final countdown for the
mission kicked off at 5.28am on Tuesday, following the green signal by Isro's
mission readiness review and the launch authorisation.
Apart from
the record the mission is significant for unique collaborations among countries
as well.
Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA-15th February,2017
