SRIHARIKOTA, Andhra Pradesh: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday successfully launched its most complex and advanced earth imaging satellite CARTOSAT-3, that would among others serve military purposes. CARTOSAT-3 is a third generation agile and advanced satellite having high resolution imaging capability and its success was described as “wonderful” by ISRO chief K. Sivan.
As many as 13 nano satellites from the US piggybacked India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV, which injected CARTOSAT 3 and its co-satellites in a precise 509 km orbit after making a majectic liftoff from the spaceport here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded ISRO scientists for Wednesday’s success, saying “the advanced Cartosat-3 will augment our high resolution imaging capability.”
“I heartily congratulate the entire ISRO team on yet another successful launch of PSLV-C47 carrying indigenous CARTOSAT-3 satellite and over a dozen nano satellites of USA,” Modi said. “ISRO has once again made the nation proud!,” he tweeted. Post its launch, ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network in Bengaluru assumed control of the satellite.
Earlier, with cloudy skies in the background, the 44.4-metre tall PSLV C47 rocket lifted off majestically at 9.28 a.m. from the second launch pad at this spaceport. CARTOSAT-3 was placed into orbit 17 minutes and 46 seconds after liftoff, in the immediate mission after Chandrayaan 2 where the lander crashed while making a soft descent on the lunar surface on September 7.
“CARTOSAT-3 is India’s highest resolution civilian satellite, and the most complex and advanced earth obvservation satellite ISRO has built so far,” Sivan said.
All the 13 nano satellites from the US were released into the orbit at 26 minutes and 56 seconds after liftoff. Soon after the mission’s success, Sivan and other scientists broke into cheers.
In his address from the Mission Control Centre, Sivan said: “I am extremely happy to declare that PSLV-C47 precisely injected CARTOSAT-3 and 13 customer satellites successfully in the desired orbit of 509 km.”
He congratulated the teams behind both the “wonderful” satellite as well as the launch vehicle, besides various review teams and industry partners involved in the mission. “Let me once again wish or greet the entire ISRO team for a wonderful success,” he said referring to Wednesday’s launch.
On future missions, the ISRO chief said, “Our hands are full,” with 13 missions slated upto March 2020.
“Having achieved such a wonderful mission, you may be asking what next. Our job is very, very simple – we are having 13 missions upto march… comprises of six launch vehicle missions and seven satellite missions (which) we are targeting before March,” he said. Team ISRO will “as usual” rise to the occasion and meet challenges and requirements and make every mission a “grand success”, a beaming Sivan said, as relief was writ large on his face since the earlier mission Chandrayaan-2 did not yield the desired results.
Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) S. Somanath also lauded the ISRO team. Describing CARTOSAT-3 satellite’s design as “innovative”, he said it “witnessed a totally new development in the advanced technological area across the board, in all the domains like the payload, communication systems, optical systems” and so on.
With an overall mass of 1,625 kg, CARTOSAT-3 would address increased users’ demands for large scale urban planning, rural resource and infrastructure development, coastal land use and land cover. It will also serve military purposes, ISRO sources said.
PSLV-C47 is the 21st flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration (with six solid strap-on motors). The 13 commercial nano-satellites from the US are being carried as part of a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) of the Department of Space.
Among the 13 commercial nano satellites are FLOCK-4P, 12 in number, with mission objective of earth observation, and one satellite named MESHBED, whose objective is communication test bed.
ISRO has said this would be the 74th launch vehicle mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The PSLV is in its 49th mission while PSLV-XL variant on its 21st mission.
CARTOSAT-3 is the ninth in the CARTOSAT series and Wednesday’s launch is the fifth for ISRO in 2019. Post its injection into the desired orbit, ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network assumed control of the earth imaging satellite. “After separation of the CARTOSAT-3, its solar arrays were deployed automatically and ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru assumed control of the satellite,” ISRO said.
In the coming days, the satellite would be brought to its final operational configuration, it added. Meanwhile, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao also lauded ISRO for its feat.
“It was another triumph of brilliance and hard work of our scientists,” an official release quoted him as saying in Hyderabad. PTI
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