Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh (The Hawk): With its rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, designated PSLV-C54, India successfully launched the Indo-French ocean observation satellite EOS 6 into orbit on Saturday.
Eight additional nanosatellites are being piggybacked into orbit, and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials assured all would go according to schedule.
S. Somanath, chairman of ISRO and secretary of the Department of Space, spoke to the media following the successful launch of EOS 6. He said: "Happy to announce the successful mission. The solar panel on the satellite has been installed.
He complimented the team and stated that the satellite was orbited in a precise orbit as expected.
According to Somanath, the rocket will need to be sent down to a lower orbit in order to eject the additional satellites, therefore the mission is not yet complete.
At 11.56 a.m., the PSLV rocket's XL variant, which was carrying eight additional passengers in addition to the 1,117 kg EOS-6 as its primary payload, launched from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in this city.
Spacecraft from two Indian companies, Syzygy Space Technologies Pvt Ltd (Anand-16.51 kg) and Dhruvaspace's two Thybolt satellites (1.45 kg each), as well as Astrosat (four numbers 17.92 kg) from Spaceflight USA and ISRO's INS-2B are among the piggybacks (18.28 kg).
EOS-6 was ejected from the rocket 17 minutes into the flight. Then, two Orbit Change Thrusters that were installed in the rocket's propulsion bay ring will be used to alter the orbit. In Orbit-2, the piggyback passengers will be split up.
If all goes according to plan, the PSLV rocket will orbit 349 foreign satellites.
The total number of foreign satellites launched by ISRO would increase to 381 if one includes the 36 satellites of the UK-based OneWeb that were orbited by another rocket LVM3 this year.
The four stage disposable, 44.4 m tall, 321 tonne PSLV rocket with dense orange flame at its tail steadily climbed toward the skies after the conclusion of the final countdown.
The rocket rose with a rolling thunder sound, speeding faster as it did so.
The first and third stages of the PSLV rocket are propelled alternately by solid and liquid fuels.
The PSLV rocket that launched on Saturday was the 56th PSLV flight and the 24th PSLV-XL mission, which had six strap-on booster motors and six tonnes of fuel.
According to the ISRO, the Indo-French partnership EOS-6/Oceansat will offer Oceansat-2 spacecraft continuity services with improved payload capabilities and application regions.
Ocean Color Monitor (OCM-3), Sea Surface Temperature Monitor (SSTM), Ku-Band Scatterometer (SCAT-3) and ARGOS, a French payload, are among the EOS-6 payloads.
The existing fleet of Indo-French weather observation satellites in orbit (MEGHA-TROPIQUES and SARAL-ALTIKA), according to France, will be strengthened by ARGOS. This will increase contributions to the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The satellite will provide data continuity of ocean colour and wind vector data to support operational applications, according to the Indian space agency. Additionally, it will enhance the applications by accommodating extra bands in the optical region for fluorescence and in the infrared region for atmospheric adjustments. Additional datasets like sea surface temperature will also be supported.
In order to contribute to well-established application areas and to increase the mission utility, the satellite will also develop and/or enhance related algorithms and data products.
The INS-2B is ISRO's second nanosatellite for Bhutan and carries the APRS-Digipeater and NanoMx payloads. The Space Applications Center of that country created the NanoMx, a multispectral optical imaging payload (SAC). ISRO's UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) and DITTBhutan collaboratively developed the APRS-Digipeater payload, the organisation said.
The Anand nanosatellite from Pixxel serves as a technology demonstrator demonstrating the capabilities and practical uses of a miniature earth-observation camera for earth observation using a microsatellite in Low Earth Orbit. According to ISRO, this satellite has three axes of stabilisation and is made up of a satbus that houses all of the subsystems, including the payload unit, electrical power system, Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS), on-board computers, and others.
The communication payload on the Thybolt satellites from Dhuruvaspace enables quick technology demonstration and constellation development for numerous users. Additionally, it provides an example of authorised users' Store-and-Forward functionality in the amateur frequency range.
The Dhruva Space Orbital Deployer will be used to launch the two satellites into orbit so they can carry out the required mission tasks for at least a year.
A technology demonstrator satellite for the Internet of Things (IoT), Astrocast is a 3U spacecraft.
(Inputs from Agencies)