New Delhi: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) sent off three passenger satellites into space on its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) on Thursday. The three satellites belonging to Singapore are being sent off under an agreement with New Space India Limited.
The lift-off was from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 6:00 pm. PSLV-C53 is the second dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL). It is designed to orbit the DS-EO satellite along with two other co-passenger satellites from Singapore. This is the 55th mission of PSLV and the 15th mission using the PSLV-Core Alone variant.
The send-off was a four-stage process where the 44.4 m tall PSLV-C53 had a takeoff mass of 228.433 t. It injected a DS-EO satellite into an orbit. The PSLV-C53 carries three satellites which are DS-EO, a 365 kg, and NeuSAR, a 155 kg satellite both belongs to Singapore. The third satellite is a 2.8 kg Scoob-1 of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
DS-EO carries an Electro-Optic, multi-spectral payload that will provide full-color images for land classification, and serve Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief needs. NeuSAR is Singapore’s first small commercial satellite carrying a SAR payload, which is capable of providing images day and night and under all weather conditions. SCOOB-I satellite is the first satellite in the Student Satellite Series (S3-I), a hands-on student training program from the Satellite Research Centre (SaRC) at Singapore’s NTU School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
The PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) activity is performed in-orbit scientific experiments using the spent PS4 stage as an orbital platform. It is the first time that the PS4 stage would orbit the earth as a stabilized platform. POEM carries six payloads including two from Indian Space Start-ups Digantara and Dhruva Space, enabled through IN-SPACe and NSIL.