The 42nd Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), PSLV-C40, was launched successfully on Friday by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Shriharikota and it placed 31 satellite across two orbits. The PSLV, was launched at 9.29 a.m., had as its primary payload the country’s fourth satellite in the remote sensing Cartosat-2 series, weigh 613 kg. It also constituted 28 satellites from other countries.
The Cartosat-2, whose imagery will be used to developed various land and geographical information system application was placed in a circular polar sun synchronous orbit 505 km from the Earth. The satellite’s design life is five years.
The other one, a nanosatellite, named Indian Nano Satellite (INS) – 1C, is the third in its series; its predecessors were part of the PSLV-C37 launched in February 2017. The INS- 1C, whose mission life is six month, carries the Miniature Multispectral Technology Demonstration payload from the Space Application Centre.” With a capability to carry up to 3 kg of payload and a total satellite mass of 11 kg, it offers immense opportunity for future use,” the ISRO said.
The ISRO’s launch of August 31, 2017 was a failure as the heat shield of PSLV-C39 did not separate, resulting in satellite separation occurring within the shield. It was only the second total failure of the PSLV in its maiden flight, failed on September 20, 1993.
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