PSLV-C37 SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES 104 SATELLITES IN A SINGLE FLIGHT
In its thirty ninth
flight (PSLV-C37), ISRO's Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 714 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with 103
co-passenger satellites today morning (February 15, 2017) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This
is the thirty eighth consecutively successful mission of PSLV. The total
weight of all the 104 satellites carried on-board
PSLV-C37 was 1378
kg.
PSLV-C37 lifted off at
0928 hrs (9:28 am) IST, as planned, from the First Launch Pad. After a
flight of 16 minutes 48 seconds, the satellites achieved a polar Sun
Synchronous Orbit of 506 km inclined at an angle of 97.46 degree to the equator
(very close to the intended orbit) and in the succeeding 12 minutes, all the
104 satellites successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage in a
predetermined sequence beginning with Cartosat-2 series satellite, followed by
INS-1 and INS-2. The total number of Indian satellites launched by PSLV
now stands at 46.
After separation, the
two solar arrays of Cartosat-2 series satellite were deployed automatically and
ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore took over
the control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought
to its final operational configuration following which it will begin to provide
remote sensing services using its panchromatic (black and white) and
multispectral (colour) cameras.
Of the 103 co-passenger
satellites carried by PSLV-C37, two – ISRO Nano
Satellite-1 (INS-1) weighing 8.4 kg and INS-2
weighing 9.7 kg – are technology demonstration satellites from
India.
The remaining 101
co-passenger satellites carried were international customer satellites from USA (96), The Netherlands
(1), Switzerland (1), Israel (1), Kazakhstan (1) and UAE (1).
With today’s successful
launch, the total number of customer satellites from abroad launched
by India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV has reached 180.
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