|
ISRO to launch seven satellites Feb 25
Saturday February 16, 2013 12:44:47 AM,
IANS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chennai:
The Indian space agency will Feb 25 put into orbit seven foreign
satellites including an Indo-French collaborative satellite SARAL
and thus earn much wanted revenue.
"The launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C20 (PSLV-C20)
is currently fixed for Feb 25 evening," sources in the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS.
"The rocket will blast off from the Sriharikota rocket launch
centre (around 80 km from here) carrying seven satellites, totally
weighing around 700 kg," a source in ISRO said.
According to ISRO, the rocket is expected to escape the earth's
gravitational force at around 6 p.m. and inject the satellites in
sun synchronous orbit (SSO) at around 785 km.
Officials told IANS that assembly of satellites began Thursday
afternoon and is expected to be completed by Friday night.
After mating the satellites with the rocket, a full system check -
rocket and satellites - will be carried out before fixing the heat
shield, the protective gear that safeguards the satellites against
damages when the rocket crosses the atmosphere.
The launch window will be open Feb 22-25. During the 59 hour
countdown, the systems will be checked and the rocket will be
fueled.
Speaking about SARAL (Satellite for ARGOS and ALTIKA), Indian
officials said the French gave the two payloads - ARGOS and ALTIKA)
while ISRO provided satellite bus (satellite frame) and built the
satellite.
"The data generated by SARAL will be shared by France and India
whereas the other five satellites would be launched on commercial
basis," an ISRO official told IANS.
The SARAL will carry an Altimeter (ALTIKA) for studying the sea
surface heights and ARGOS payload, which is a satellite based data
collection platform.
Interestingly, PSLV-C20 will sling into orbit two Canadian
satellite NEOSSat (Near Earth Object Space Surveillance
Satellite), the world's first space telescope designed by Canadian
Space Agency (CSA) and Sapphire satellite built by MacDonald,
Dettwiler and Associates (MDA).
According to CSA, the satellite NEOSSat will detect and track
asteroids and satellites circling the globe every 100 minutes and
scanning space near the Sun to pin point otherwise almost
invisible asteroids.
The satellite will also be useful in tracking resident space
objects including space debris.
On the other hand Sapphire will look for resident space objects
that includes functioning satellites and space debris circling
between 6,000 km and 40,000 km above the earth.
The other four satellites to be carried by PSLV-C20 are BRITE and
UniBRITE (both Austria), STRAND (Britain) and AAUSAT (Denmark).
|
|
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
More Headlines |
|
12th plan to restore value to degrees: Planning Commission adviser |
|
Blog comments take sheen off science online |
|
Over 500 injured as meteor shower hits Russia |
|
Akbaruddin
Owaisi gets bail in both cases, to be released Saturday |
|
SC notice
to Maharashtra govt on Dhule police firing |
|
Diesel price hiked by 45 paise a litre, petrol to cost Rs.1.50 more |
|
Revoked telecom permit holders must stop operation: Supreme Court |
|
Indians in Middle East remit home over $35 billion every year |
|
No two yardsticks to deal with terror:
Minister |
|
Bilingual babies know grammar by 7 months |
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 Indians in Middle East remit home over $35 billion every year
Country needs to engage
more with West Asian nations, says
National Security Advisor
India needs to engage with the Middle East more than ever before
as the recent dramatic developments
»
UAE is
India's top trading partner
China uses Halal meat to boost exports to Muslim countries
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
Akbaruddin
Owaisi gets bail in both cases, to be released Saturday
MIM leader
Akbaruddin Owaisi was Friday granted bail in both cases of hate
speech in Adialabad and Nizamabad districts of Andhra Pradesh. He
is likely to walk out of jail Saturday.
»
|
|
No two yardsticks to deal with terror:
Minister
Says Malegaon and
Samjhauta blasts proved beyond doubt terrorists can be from any
community
In a sharp
attack on rightwing "terror", India's Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat
Friday said the "law of the land" could not have two yardsticks to
deal with terror »
|
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
 You erred on Afzal, academics write to Indian
President
Over 200
academics, writers, artists and filmmakers have written to
President Pranab Mukherjee saying that he erred over the hanging
of Afzal Guru and expressed deep "anguish
»
|
|
Want US out, Taliban okay: Afghan women senators
Women
senators from Afghanistan have said they wanted US troops out of
their country and would not mind having the Taliban in the
government so long as they respected the constitution. "We want
the US out of Afghanistan, but as far as Taliban is concerned, any
one
»
|
|
Kamaal Maula Masjid/Bhojshala Controversy:
Palpable communal tension pervading MP town
Palpable communal tension is pervading Dhār town, located in the
Malwa region of western Madhya Pradesh state in central
»
|
|
Agra to mark people's poet Nazeer Akbarabadi's
birth anniversary
The poet's modest tomb in Taj Ganj will light up Friday as
admirers queue up to pay homage to the 18th century poet. For most
part of the year, his tomb lies in a dilapidated state. Only on
»
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
Mughal Garden:
While there are 120 varieties of roses across the 15-acre Mughal
Gardens, this time around the main attraction are the 2,500
dahlias that will certainly grab eyeballs. |
|
|
|
Recommend the story to
your friends |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links