Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-40 (PSLV-40), successfully launched the 710 kg Cartosat-2 Series Remote Sensing Satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites on January 12, 2018 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. Total 31 satellites were launched by PSLV-40. This was 42 launch of PSLV.
-Cartosat-2 along with Microsat, launched with PSLV-40, is India’s 100th satellite.
– The co-passenger satellites comprise one microsatellite and one nanosatellite from India as well as 3 microsatellites and 25 nanosatellites from six countries, viz., Canada, Finland, France, Republic of Korea, UK and USA. The total weight of all the 31 satellites carried onboard PSLV-C40 is about 1323 kg.
-The lift-off of PSLV-C40 occurred at 0929 hrs (9:29 am) IST from the First Launch Pad.
-The launched satellites achieved the polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 503 km inclined at an angle of 97.55 degree to the equator.
-So far, PSLV has successfully launched 51 Indian satellites and 237 customer satellites from abroad.
Launched Satellites from PSLV-40
Microsatellite: PSLV-C40 carries a Microsat built by ISRO as a co-passenger payload. Microsat is a small satellite in the 100 kg class that derives its heritage from IMS-1 bus. This is a technology demonstrator and the fore runner for future satellites of this series. The satellite bus is modular in design and can be fabricated and tested independently of payload.
Indian Nano Satellite-1C: Indian Nano Satellite-1C is another Indian co-passenger payload of PSLV-C40. It is the third satellite in the Indian Nanosatellite series. The first two satellites of this series were carried as co-passenger payloads by PSLV-C37 in February 2017. INS-1C will be carrying Miniature Multispectral Technology Demonstration (MMX-TD) Payload from Space Applications Centre (SAC). Data sent by this camera can be utilised for topographical mapping, vegetation monitoring, aerosol scattering studies and cloud studies. Indian Nano Satellite (INS) is a versatile and modular Nano satellite bus system envisioned for future science and experimental payloads. With a capability to carry up to 3 kg of payload and a total satellite mass of 11 kg, it offers immense opportunities for future use. The INS system is developed as a co-passenger satellite to accompany bigger satellites on PSLV launch vehicle. Its primary objectives include providing a standard satellite bus for launch on demand services and providing opportunity to carry innovative payloads.
Cartosat-2 Series Satellite : 710 kg. Cartosat-2 Series Satellite is the primary satellite carried by PSLV-C40. PSLV-C40/Cartosat-2 Series Satellite Mission was launched on Jan 12, 2018 at 09:29 AM. from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The imagery sent by satellite will be useful for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, utility management like road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps, change detection to bring out geographical and manmade features and various other Land Information System (LIS) as well as Geographical Information System (GIS) applications.
Foreign satellites:
- Telesat Phase-1 LEO: Canada
- POC-1: Finland
- PICSAT: France
- CANYVAL-X, CNUSAIL-1, KAUSAT-5, SIGMA, STEP CUBE LAB: South Korea
- CBNT-2: UK
- Flock-3P’ (Four): USA
- LEMUR (Four): USA
- DemoSat-2: USa
- Micromas-2: USA
- Tyvak-61C
- SpaceBEE (Four): USA
- Fox-1D: USA
- Corvus BC3: USA
- Arkyd-6: USA
- CICERO-7: USA
