India to launch 100th satellite today
India is set to launch its 100th satellite into orbit. The 28-hour countdown of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C40/Cartosat-2 series satellite mission started on Thursday morning.
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) officials said they were ready for the historic 100th mission, scheduled for Friday morning. The 42nd flight of India's PSLV-C40, carrying the 710-kg Cartosat-2 series satellite, is expected to take off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) or Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR), Sriharikota, at 9.30 am on Friday. This launch is a follow-on mission and aims to provide high-resolution and scene-specific spot imagery. It carries panchromatic and multispectral cameras and is capable of delivering high-resolution data. This will be the third satellite in the Cartosat-2 series.
Isro officials said after the PSLV-C39 failure, the organisation conducted repeated tests to ensure that such problems did not occur again, which is why Isro took slightly more time for the PSLV-C40 launch.
On August 31, following a perfect launch, India's mission to put its backup navigation satellite, IRNSS-1H, in orbit onboard PSLV-C39 failed after a technical fault in the final leg. The officials added the launch of three Indian satellites during the mission would mark the rollout of the 100th satellite from Isro. The 28-hour countdown activity for the mission started at 5:29 am on Thursday, January 11, 2018, after the Mission Readiness Review Committee and launch authorisation board cleared the countdown on Wednesday. As the countdown began, the propellant filling operation of the fourth stage (PS4) of PSLV-C40 started.
The rocket will carry a Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation and 30 co-passenger satellites. Together, the 30 other satellites will weigh about 613 kg at lift-off. The co-passenger satellites comprise one microsatellite and one nanosatellite from India as well as three microsatellites and 25 nanosatellites from six countries — Canada, Finland, France, the Republic of Korea, the UK, and the US. The total weight of all the 31 satellites carried onboard PSLV-C40 is 1,323 kg.
The 28 international customer satellites are being launched as part of the commercial arrangements between the commercial arm of Isro, Antrix Corporation, and international customers.