New Delhi:
India is all set to launch on Monday the EMISAT satellite along with 28 nano satellites of global customers from Sriharikota, a mission which would witness the ISRO placing payloads in three orbits and conducting space experiments for the first time.
According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the countdown began at 6.27 am on Sunday for the launch on board ISRO’s third generation workhorse PSLV, in its 47th flight.
The latest PSLV launch comes amid the rising concerns over the space debris created by the ASAT missile launch during the ‘Mission Shakti’. When the PSLV is launched from Sriharikota, it will have to traverse through that debris, thereby creating a risk of collision.
Last week, India successfully fired a rocket that brought down one of its own satellites to test its A-SAT capabilities. The ‘Mission Shakti’ generated 250-270 objects of debris in the space, some 300 km above the Earth.
Experts believe that the debris created in the space by the ASAT test would certainly hinder the future launches at least for the next several weeks.
The four-stage PSLV-C45 will blast off from the second launch pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota at 9.27 am today. The whole flight sequence will take about 180 minutes.
In Monday's mission, ISRO scientists would place the satellites and payloads in three different orbits, a first for the agency.
After injecting the 436 kg primary satellite EMISAT, intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement, at around 17 minutes from lift off in a 749 km orbit, they would restart the fourth stage again.
During this initiative, all the other 28 customer satellites, totally weighing about 220 kgs, would be released by lowering the fourth state to around 504 kms orbit.
Again, the fourth stage would be reignited and further lowered to 485 kms orbit to serve as an orbital platform for carrying out space borne experimentations for the first time in ISRO's history.
According to ISRO, this is the first time it has been envisaged to provide a micro-gravity environment for research organisations and academic institutes to perform experiments.
#PSLVC45 is now marching towards the 485km orbit to do its function as an orbital platform for experiments. I want to thank the team members for making the mission a success, says @isro chairman K Sivan.
READ full story:https://t.co/u7igEVKedQ pic.twitter.com/EGDUUFrfYb
— News Nation (@NewsNationTV) April 1, 2019
All 28 customer satellites also separated in their respective orbits.
ISRO ex-chairman G Madhavan Nair: #PSLVC45 is a very imp milestone for ISRO. It's not only going to launch our own satellite but also those from other nations. Uniqueness of this mission is,it's going to place satellites in 3 different orbits.I hope it'll be 100% success as usual pic.twitter.com/4hguGJ5SS0
— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2019
Isro uses a multiple-burn technology where the engine will be shut dow and restarted mutiple times allowing the rocket to course to the next orbit with the payloads.
The EMISAT traversed through 250-270 objects of debris in the space created during the Mission Shakti six days ago.
🇮🇳 #ISROMissions 🇮🇳#PSLVC45 successfully injects #EMISAT into sun-synchronous polar orbit.
Now, 28 customer satellites to be placed into their designated orbit.
Our updates will continue.
— ISRO (@isro) April 1, 2019
#WATCH Sriharikota: ISRO's #PSLVC45 lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, carrying EMISAT & 28 customer satellites on board. #AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/iQIcl7hBIH
— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2019
In today's mission, ISRO scientists would place the satellites and payloads in three different orbits, a first for the agency.
The EMISAT is crucial for the Indian defence system as it will help locate the enemy radar.
#WATCH live from Sriharikota: ISRO's #PSLVC45 lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, carrying EMISAT & 28 customer satellites on board. https://t.co/ia5WKcp9lR
— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2019
The EMISAT satellite, along with 28 nano satellites, has been launched from second launch pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota.
During this initiative, all the other 28 customer satellites, totally weighing about 220 kgs, would be released by lowering the fourth state to around 504 kms orbit.
Visuals from Sriharikota. ISRO's PSLV-C45 will lift off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre this morning, carrying EMISAT and 28 customer satellites on board. (Pic courtesy: ISRO) pic.twitter.com/CtseTnmpZI
— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2019