Indian Space Research Organisation to launch IRNSS-1H on Thursday

The 29-hour countdown for the August 31 evening launch of India’s navigation satellite IRNSS-1 H using rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) began on Wednesday.

IRNSS-1 H is India’s first satellite that is co-assembled by Indian Space Research Organisation with a private consortium.

According to ISRO, the Mission Readiness Review (MMR) committee and Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) had cleared on Tuesday the 29-hour  countdown.

The IRNSS-1 H weighing 1,435 kilograms with its PSLV rocket will be launched at 7pm from ISRO’s spaceport at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. It is replacement of IRNSS-1A, as its atomic clocks have failed.  It wi

The satellite is the first of the two satellites being contracted by ISRO to a consortium of small firms led by Alpha Design Technologies, a Bengaluru-based aerospace firm.

The company was shortlisted last year in December and offered to hand hold the team of 70 engineers in satellite assembly techniques at the ISRO satellite centre.

M Annadurai, director of ISRO Satellite Centre Bengaluru said, “We are quite satisfied. Soon after the launch of IRNSS-1 work will start for the second satellite. The private consortium will handle most of the work independently.”