ISRO or Indian Space Research Organisation PSLV C-16 was successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota at 10.12 am on Wednesday morning. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is carrying a remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2 and two mini spacecraft.
The countdown, which began at 0342 hours today, was progressing smoothly, ISRO sources said.
Apart from Resourcesat-2, the PSLV-C16 will also launch two other satellites, Youthsat and X-Sat. The 1206 kg Resourcesat-2, the primary satellite, has been built by ISRO for facilitating the study and management of natural resources.
The 92 kg Youthsat is a joint Indo-Russian satellite for stellar and atmospheric studies. X-Sat, weighing 106 kg, is a microsatellite for imaging applications built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
However, it still waits to be seen if ISRO's scientists can taste success even on the GSLV that it still needs to perfect.
Await more news...
Showing posts with label Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota spaceport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota spaceport. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Monday, November 10, 2008
Chandrayaan dips lower in moon orbit
India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 was pushed further towards the moon's surface in the first orbit-lowering manoeuvre late Sunday, a top space agency official said.
India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 was pushed further towards the moon's surface in the first orbit-lowering manoeuvre late Sunday, a top space agency official said.
'The first orbit lowering operation was carried out successfully at 20.03 hrs IST by firing the liquid engine onboard the spacecraft for 57 seconds. All systems are functioning satisfactorily,' Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Director S. Sathis told IANS here.
In this elliptical orbit, Chandrayaan will be circling the moon over its polar regions at 200 km periselene (nearest point from moon) and 7,500 km aposelene (farthest point from moon).
'Further orbital manoeuvres are planned over the coming days to lower the spacecraft gradually to its designated slot of 100x100 km from the lunar surface for conducting various experiments, including high resolution remote sensing of the moon,' Satish said.
The operation was carried from the spacecraft control centre of the space agency's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) here along with its deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 km from this tech hub.
Chandrayaan was successfully put into the lunar orbit Saturday after an 18-day voyage, making it the first ever Indian-built spacecraft to break away from the earth's gravitational field and get captured by the moon's equally powerful gravity.
Chandrayaan carries 11 scientific instruments, including six foreign payloads - two from the US, three from the European Space Agency (ESA) and one from Bulgaria. The remaining five are indigenously designed and developed by various centres of the state-run ISRO.
The spacecraft was blasted off Oct 22 onboard the 316-tonne polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota spaceport, about 80km north of Chennai.
India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 was pushed further towards the moon's surface in the first orbit-lowering manoeuvre late Sunday, a top space agency official said.
'The first orbit lowering operation was carried out successfully at 20.03 hrs IST by firing the liquid engine onboard the spacecraft for 57 seconds. All systems are functioning satisfactorily,' Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Director S. Sathis told IANS here.
In this elliptical orbit, Chandrayaan will be circling the moon over its polar regions at 200 km periselene (nearest point from moon) and 7,500 km aposelene (farthest point from moon).
'Further orbital manoeuvres are planned over the coming days to lower the spacecraft gradually to its designated slot of 100x100 km from the lunar surface for conducting various experiments, including high resolution remote sensing of the moon,' Satish said.
The operation was carried from the spacecraft control centre of the space agency's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) here along with its deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 km from this tech hub.
Chandrayaan was successfully put into the lunar orbit Saturday after an 18-day voyage, making it the first ever Indian-built spacecraft to break away from the earth's gravitational field and get captured by the moon's equally powerful gravity.
Chandrayaan carries 11 scientific instruments, including six foreign payloads - two from the US, three from the European Space Agency (ESA) and one from Bulgaria. The remaining five are indigenously designed and developed by various centres of the state-run ISRO.
The spacecraft was blasted off Oct 22 onboard the 316-tonne polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota spaceport, about 80km north of Chennai.
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