India on April 1 will launch an advanced electronic intelligence satellite – EMISAT, along with 28 other international satellites, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Sunday. “India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 47th mission (PSLV-C45), will launch EMISAT, the primary satellite and 28 international customer satellites,” the space agency said in a press release.
The satellite is slated for liftoff at 0930 Hrs on April 1. On February 24, ISRO Chairman K Sivan told ANI that the speciality of this mission is that for the first time PSLV will launch satellites in three different orbits. Sivan had also said that ISRO is planning to launch India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 by April end.
EMISAT is a primary satellite jointly by developed ISRO and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and weighs around 436 kilograms. It will measure the electromagnetic spectrum in space.
The 28 international customer satellites are from four countries – Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. All these satellites will be launched under commercial arrangements. The space agency said that EMISAT is based on ISRO’s Indian Mini Satellite-2 (IMS-2) bus platforms.
In PSLV-C45, the fourth stage (PS4) of the vehicle will be moved to a higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments.
“The PS4 (fourth stage) orbital platform is envisaged to provide a microgravity environment for research organizations and academic institutes to perform experiments,” the statement said.
Post Your Comments