Science
Next Liftoff: ISRO To Launch PSLV-C54/EOS-06 Mission On 26 November
- ISRO's next liftoff is later this week with Oceansat-3 and eight nano-satellites, including those by India's Pixxel and Dhruva Space.
ISRO's PSLV-C51 rocket (representative image)
After it helped accomplish India's first-ever private rocket launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is on to its next mission: PSLV-C54/EOS-06.
The PSLV-C54 is the 56th mission of ISRO's polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV).
The launch is scheduled for 11.56 am on 26 November (Saturday) from India's spaceport Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (SDSC SHAR), off the coast of Andhra Pradesh.
Oceansat-3 is an Earth-observation satellite (EOS) and third in the series of satellites aimed at ocean observations. It is equipped with an ocean colour monitor, scatterometre, and sea surface temperature monitor. It is estimated to have a mission life of five years.
The predecessor Oceansat-2, launched by PSLV-C14 on 23 September 2009 with a mission life of five years, is currently operational in the Sun-synchronous orbit.
The accompanying passenger satellites include one from Bhutan called BhutanSat and three from Indian companies Pixxel (1) and Dhruva Space (2).
Pixxel and Dhruva Space are space technology companies based in Bengaluru (plus California, the United States) and Hyderabad (plus Graz, Austria) respectively.
The two Dhruva Space satellites lifting off into low-Earth orbit are called Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2.
A Dhruva Space payload (DSOD-1U) was part of the previous PSLV mission, C53, alongside one from another Indian startup Digantara and other foreign satellites.
The successful test, and therefore space qualification, of Dhruva's satellite orbital deployer (DSOD-1U) at the end of June this year paved the way for the Thybolt-1 and Thybolt-2 satellites flying on PSLV-C54.
Pixxel, on the other hand, had its first space launch with American aerospace company SpaceX. Its hyperspectral imaging satellite called Shakuntala was put in orbit in April 2022.
The startup's third hyperspectral satellite, called Anand, will fly with ISRO's PSLV-C54 mission on 26 November.
"After more than 18 months of delay, many many retests, and more than 2 years of sweat and hard work by the team, we are finally launching this week! Look forward to having our third satellite (but the first one we ever built) in space very soon!" Awais Ahmed, founder and chief executive of Pixxel, said in a tweet.
Registration to witness the launch directly from the launch view gallery at the Sriharikota facility opens at 10 am on 20 November.
For online viewing, catch it here:
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