ISRO all set to launch its PSLV rocket on September 15

Hyderabad, September 15: After a gap of five months, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will resume its launch operations on September 16 by putting two international satellites into space on a PSLV rocket.

 

In a dedicated commercial mission, the PSLV-C42 rocket will carry two earth observing satellites, NovaSAR and S1-4 of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), the UK from the first launch pad at Sathish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

In its tweet, ISRO said, “Here's PSLV-C42 (Core Alone) sitting pretty on the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. Two foreign satellites, NovaSAR & S1-4, are set to be launched into a 583 km Sun Synchronous Orbit, tomorrow.”

Both these satellites are planned to be launched from a first launch pad in a 583-km Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). K Sivan, Chairman, ISRO, told Express that this launch will begin the busiest months ahead. “The plan is drawn to launch 22 missions in 2019. There will a launch in the remaining three months of this year as well. In October, GSLV Mk-III D2 carrying GSAT-29 will be launched followed by PSLV-c43 and in November last week or December first week, GSAT-11, which was recalled earlier this year, will be launched by Arianespace,” he said.

 

To a query, Sivan said the five months gap was due to some corrective measures were undertaken by the space agency. “The anomaly in GSAT-6A, with which signal link got lost soon after launch on March 29, has identified a problem in our solar panel deployment. We recalled GSAT-29 for the same reason. Now, we have improved our separation systems. Also, all the immediate launches involved are new and high-throughput satellites, which take time,” he said.