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PSLV-C16 puts 3 satellites in orbit

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PSLV-C16 puts 3 satellites in orbit


SRIHARIKOTA: It was “sweet seventeen” for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on Wednesday, with the PSLV-C16 scoring a spectacular success by putting three satellites into orbit with precision.

It was the PSLV's 17th consecutive successful mission out of the 18 launches from Sriharikota. At the end of 18 minutes of “a delightful” flawless flight, the fourth stage of the rocket shot India's Resourcesat-2 into its orbit. About 40 seconds later, the fourth stage bulleted again the Youthsat and the X-sat into their orbits. The accuracy was such that the Resourcesat-2 reached an orbit at an altitude of 822.9 km against the targeted 822 km.

The mission lifted the veil of despondency that had fallen over the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after the failure of the GSLV-D3 with an indigenous cryogenic stage in April last year and of the GSLV-F06 with a Russian cryogenic engine in December. This year, the ISRO was hit by allegations over the S-band spectrum allocation to a private company.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan called the mission “a grand success” because the satellites reached their orbits with great precision. It was “a global mission,” he said, because the Resourcesat-2's remote-sensing images would be used by countries across the world.

Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO S. Ramakrishnan described the success as “a sweet seventeen.”

Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram P.S. Veeraraghavan said the mission's success had established the PSLV “as the most reliable and cost-effective rocket in the world.” Everything went right with the mission, and “as far as the orbits were concerned, the satellites hit the bullseye,” he added.

The 54-hour countdown progressed without any hitch. At 10.12 a.m., the PSLV-C16 roared off from the first launch pad, climbing steadily. The rocket rode on towers of flame, tracing a parabolic path across a clear sky. One could see with naked eyes the separation of the first stage. The four stages and the strap-on booster motors ignited on time and fell into the Bay of Bengal. The rocket also performed “a dog-leg manoeuvre,” skirting the Sri Lankan territory.


Mission Director P. Kunhikrishnan praised “the excellent performance” of the rocket's four stages and their sub-systems. It was “a reassurance to the nation' from the ISRO that the faith put in the space agency was justified.


SOURCE: The Hindu : Front Page : PSLV-C16 puts 3 satellites in orbit
 
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Resourcesat-2 will beam back huge data on resources

SRIHARIKOTA: The remote-sensing satellite, Resourcesat-2, put up by PSLV-C16 on Wednesday, “will become a workhorse for the global community” with the huge data it will send back on the earth's resources, said R.R. Navalgund, Director, Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) put three satellites in orbit – India's 1,206-kg Resourcesat-2, the Indo-Russian 93-kg Youthsat and the 106-kg X-Sat from the Nangyang Technological University of Singapore. The Resourcesat-2 is a continuation of Resourcesat-1, launched in October 2003, but has enhanced capability, he said. The SAC built the Resourcesat-2 payloads.

Dr. Navalgund called the Resourcesat-2 “an extremely important satellite” because it had three cameras mounted on a single platform with a high resolution, medium resolution and coarse resolution. The images from the satellite would be useful in monitoring the earth's resources, including crop yield before harvest, the snow-cover in mountains, the glaciers advancing or the changes in the coastal zones and the urban landscape; locating groundwater; and realigning roads in rural areas. “You can collect data from the entire globe. So, there will be a great demand for this kind of data which is available from the Resourcesat-2. It can provide data more frequently. It will become the workhorse for monitoring the resources of the entire earth for the global community,” Dr. Navalgund said.

T.K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, which integrated the Resourcesat-2, said the satellite was doing well after its solar panels were deployed soon after it reached the orbit. The cameras would be operated from April 28, when the first set of pictures would reach the ground. “Everybody is looking forward to using the images of the Resourcesat-2, and we hope it will meet the requirements of the entire globe.”

The Youthsat's three payloads — one from Russia and two from India — would be useful in studying the solar X-ray and gamma ray fluxes, and the influence of the activities in the sun on the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere. The X-Sat is a remote-sensing satellite that can process the images it takes and send more refined images to the ground.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said the PSLV-C16 and the Resourcesat-2 and the Youthsat together cost Rs.250 crore. The ISRO launched the X-Sat on a commercial basis, but he declined to disclose the sum received by Antrix Corporation, the Department of Space's commercial arm.

The ISRO-built communication satellite, GSAT-8, weighing 3,200 kg, will be put in orbit on May 19 by the Ariane vehicle of Arianespace from French Guiana. “All preparations are going on for the launch, which will take place at 1.30 a.m. IST on May 19. It will have 24 transponders in the Ku-band [used for telecasting],” Dr. Radhakrishnan said.

P.S. Veeraraghavan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said ISRO would launch several satellites from Sriharikota in the coming months. The PSLV-C17 would put in orbit India's communication satellite, GSAT-12, by June end or in the first week of July. The next satellite PSLV-C18 would deploy the Indo-French Megha-Tropiques satellite in August for studying the clouds in the tropical region. In the last quarter of 2011, the PSLV-C19 would put in orbit the Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT), a 1,100-kg micro-wave remote-sensing satellite.

Asked why the connectors in the GSLV-F06 snapped on December 25, 2010, leading to the mission's failure, Mr. Veeraraghavan said a shroud covered the rear portion of the Russian upper cryogenic stage.

The connectors between the equipment bay and the first stage snapped within seconds of the lift-off, though they should have snapped after the second stage separation. The failure of the turbo-pump in the indigenous cryogenic stage in the GSLV-D3, which led to the mission's failure in April 20, 2010, had been analysed, said S. Ramakrishnan, Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), ISRO. A modified turbo-pump was successfully tested at the LPSC, Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday.

SOURCE: The Hindu : Front Page : Resourcesat-2 will beam back huge data on resources
 
yippee.. :yahoo::victory: Congratulations to India. We managed to put sattelite in space before Pakistan. They are expected to put their sattelite sometime this year, we just beat them in time. :victory:
 
yippee.. :yahoo::victory: Congratulations to India. We managed to put sattelite in space before Pakistan. They are expected to put their sattelite sometime this year, we just beat them in time. :victory:

We've been putting satellites in orbit for a while now.....Pakistan's satellite is their first..or second. And THAT...is not indegenous and furthermore, its going to be launched from china. :(

Point: There is no comparison and there is no competition. We outstrip them by a HUGE margin....Probably a decade or two. And the gap is likely to increase, considering they have no funds and have about $58bil in debt.
 
We've been putting satellites in orbit for a while now.....Pakistan's satellite is their first..or second. And THAT...is not indegenous and furthermore, its going to be launched from china. :(

Point: There is no comparison and there is no competition. We outstrip them by a HUGE margin....Probably a decade or two. And the gap is likely to remain, considering they have no funds and have about $58bil in debt.


Satellite to help promote education: Musharraf launches Paksat-I (Dawn 23 Jan 2003)




ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: Pakistan entered the space age with the formal launching of Paksat-I by President Gen Pervez Musharraf at an impressive ceremony here on Saturday.

The president emphasized that Paksat-I must serve as a link between Pakistan and the Muslim world to help the spread of knowledge.

“I am really delighted to note that Pakistan’s space programme now is a reality and our scientists must build our own indigenous satellite within three years instead of five years,” he said. The president pointed out that four educational channels will aid the government to provide free education.

The satellite hired by Pakistan was relocated at 38 degree east by the country’s own space scientists. With a lifetime of five to eight years, it will mainly transmit educational programmes.

Inaugurating the satellite, the president described it as a truly historic achievement for Pakistan and Pakistanis. “This marks a tremendous achievement demonstrating the skill and technical excellence of the country’s manpower.”

“Pakistan’s space programme is now ahead of India after the formal launching of Paksat-I and this is due to the hard work of our scientists and I am sure Indians would take another 30 months to do the job,” Gen Musharraf claimed.

Referring to Pakistan’s achievement in information technology and communication, the president said Internet facilities were now available in 1,000 towns and cities.

The budget for science and technology, he pointed out, had been increased by 4,000 per cent and the bandwidth rates reduced from $86,000 to $3,800 per annum. “And who does not know that there is a 50 years tax holiday for the IT sector.”

The president expressed the confidence that the present government would carry on the space and communication development programme from where it was left by the previous regime.

Pakistan was ahead of India in Space Technology in 2003. Only now we are slightly ahead of them.
 

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