ISRO is launching this satellite to provide continuity to the services of Oceansat-2 spacecraft with enhanced payload specifications as well as in application areas…reports Asian Lite News
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday completed the 200th consecutive successful launch of the versatile RH200 sounding rocket from Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram. ISRO termed it a “historic moment”. It was witnessed by former President Ram Nath Kovind and ISRO chairman S Somanath, among others.
The successful flight of RH200 took off from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS). “Indian sounding rockets are used as privileged tools for the scientific community for carrying out experiments on meteorology, astronomy and similar branches of space physics,” an ISRO statement said.
Campaigns such as Equatorial ElectroJet (EEJ), Leonid Meteor Shower (LMS), Indian Middle Atmosphere Programme (IMAP), Monsoon Experiment (MONEX), Middle Atmosphere Dynamics (MIDAS), and Sooryagrahan-2010 have been conducted using the sounding rocket platform for scientific exploration of the Earth’s atmosphere, it said.
The Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) series have been the forerunners for ISRO’s heavier and more complex launch vehicles, with a continued usage even today for atmospheric and meteorological studies, the national space agency headquartered here said. “The 200th consecutive successful flight stands testimony to the commitment of Indian rocket scientists towards unmatched reliability demonstrated over the years,” it was stated.
ISRO to launch Oceansat-3, 8 nano satellites tomorrow
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch Earth Observation Satellite – 06 (EOS-06) and eight nano satellites on November 26.
According to the space agency, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C54) will launch the satellites at 11.56 a.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The EOS-6 is a third-generation satellite in the Oceansat series of satellites.
ISRO is launching this satellite to provide continuity to the services of Oceansat-2 spacecraft with enhanced payload specifications as well as in application areas.
The eight nano satellites include: ISRO Nano Satellite-2 for Bhutan (INS-2B), Anand, Astrocast (four satellites), and two Thybolt satellites. The INS-2B spacecraft will have two payloads namely NanoMx and APRS-Digipeater.
While the NanoMx is a multi-spectral optical imaging payload developed by Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, the APRS-Digipeater payload has been jointly developed by the Department of Information Technology and Telecom-Bhutan and the UR Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru.
The Anand nano satellite developed by Bengaluru-based space start-up, Pixxel, is a technology demonstrator to demonstrate the capabilities and commercial applications of miniaturised Earth-observation cameras for Earth observation using a microsatellite in Low Earth Orbit.
Astrocast, developed by Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space, is a 3U spacecraft. It is a technology demonstrator satellite for the Internet of Things (IoT).
The US-based Spaceflight has developed Thybolt which is a 0.5U spacecraft bus that includes a communication payload to enable rapid technology demonstration and constellation development for multiple users.
ISRO said that the PSLV-C54 will launch EOS-06 and the eight nano satellites into two different Sun-synchronous polar orbits .
“The primary satellite (EOS-06) will be separated in Orbit-1. Subsequently, a orbit change has been planned by using two orbit change thrusters introduced in the propulsion bay ring of the PSLV-C54. The passenger payloads will be separated in Orbit-2,” ISRO said.
