Among the launches scheduled over the next few months, the
much-awaited and delayed Chandrayaan-2, finally has a launch window, says ISRO
chief Sivan
The night dark skies
above Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh lit up in bright orange
hues as space launch vehicle PSLV-C42 lifted off and vanished into the thick
black clouds, carrying two satellites from the United Kingdom – NovaSAR and S1-4
from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR).
PSLV-C-42, the lightest
version of the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) flying in its core-alone
version without six strap-on motors, rose into the skies at 10.08 p.m. Almost
18 minutes later, the two satellites were placed in the desired orbit by ISRO
(Indian Space Research Organisation). This was the 12th launch of a core-alone
version of the PSLV.
“This was a spectacular
mission. We have placed the satellite in a very, very precise orbit,” R.
Hutton, Mission Director, said.
The two satellites,
owned by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) were placed in a circular orbit
around the poles, 583 km from the Earth. The commercial arm of ISRO, Antrix
Corporation, earned more than ₹220 crore on this launch.
The NovaSAR is a
technology demonstration mission designed to test the capabilities of a new low
cost S-band SAR platform. It will be used for ship detection and maritime
monitoring and also flood monitoring, besides agricultural and forestry
applications.
The S1-4 will be used
for environment monitoring, urban management, and tackling disasters.
“This unique mission is
mainly for ‘ascending daytime node’ launch. This is the first time we have
executed a different type of mission altogether,” ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said.
Mr. Sivan said the next
six months would see 18 missions – 10 satellite missions and 8 launch vehicle
missions.
“We are almost going to
have one launch every two weeks. Definitely the load on us is going to be
huge,” he noted.
Among the launches
scheduled over the next few months, the much-awaited and delayed, India’s
second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, finally has a launch window.
“Chandrayaan-2 is
planned for a window from January 3 to February 16, 2019 that we are targeting.
It can happen anytime during that window. But we are aiming for the beginning
of the window, January 3,” Mr. Sivan said.
“Right now with the
status of the rocket, the GSLV Mk-3 M1, and the present status of the satellite,
we are not expecting any more delay. At the same time tests are going on. If
unexpected things happen, that may have some impact. But right now, we are not
anticipating any delay.”
The other launches
include the GSAT series that would provide bandwidth speeds of up to 100 Gbps
per second, as part of the government’s Digital India efforts, he said.
The Cartosat and Risat
satellites would also be launched within the next six months, Mr. Sivan said.
Source: THE HINDU-17th September,2018
