Trusted PSLV rocket puts 3 satellites in orbit

C S Sathish Anand
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), Apr 20 (PTI) India's
premier space research agency, ISRO, Wednesday put in orbit
three satellites using its trusted PSLV rocket, the space
agency's first successful mission after the the GSLV launch
failure in December last year.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), on its 18th
flight, soared into the sky from the spaceport here at 10:12
am IST leaving behind a white plume of smoke.
Space scientists gathered at the Satish Dhawan Space
Centre applauded every stage of the rocket's progress and its
placing of three satellites into orbit at an altitude of 822
kms exactly 18 minutes after lift-off.
Emerging out of the mission control centre, a beaming
ISRO(Indian Space Research Organisation) Chairman K
Radhakrihanan announced the success of the mission terming it
as a "text-book" launch. The rocket had maintained its desired
trajectory all through the launch.
The rocket placed into orbit Resourcesat-2, an
advanced earth observation satellite, Youthsat, the 92 kg
Indo-Russian satellite for stellar and atmospheric studies,
and the 106 kg X-SAT for imaging applications built by the
Singapore-based Nanyang Technological University.
The ISRO chief's announcement was cheered by the
battery of scientists at the mission control centre, who
heaved a sigh of relief as they were gripped by an added
anxiety following two successive failures of GSLV missions
last year.
The 1,206 kg Resourcesat-2 with a space life of five
years replaces Resourcesat-1 launched in 2003 and would
provide data with enhanced multispectral and spatial coverage
on natural resources.
The GSLV mission in December last year failed when the
homegrown GSLV F06 carrying communication satellite GSAT-5P
exploded mid-air less than a minute after lift-off and fell
into the Bay of Bengal.
GSAT-5P, carrying 24 C-band and 12 extended C-band
transponders, plunged into the sea when the destruct command
was issued as the rocket veered from its flight path.
Earlier, the GSLV-D3 mission carrying GSAT-4 had also
failed in April 2010, dealing a blow to India's space
programme.
Wednesday's PSLV flight was its 17th successive
mission after the failure of its maiden voyage in September
1993.
Radhakrishnan said the launch of two foreign
satellites showed the PSLV's reliability had been recognised
internationally.
"It is a glad moment for the entire ISRO community.
ISRO has proved its mettle and the mission performed
exceedingly well. Its a reassurance to the nation that the
confidence in ISRO is fully justified," Mission Director P
Kunhikrishnan said in remarks that summed up the mood of the
space scientists who needed the morale booster after the
double GSLV failure.
It was anxiety all the way for the Indian space
scientists at the mission control since the rocket blasted off
and injected the satellites into space. Each stage of
succesful separation was greeted with loud applause.
The Resourscesat-2 with three high resolution cameras
on a single platform would capture images that will be useful
in assessing the health of crops, monitoring deforestation and
water levels in reservoirs and lakes besides the snow-melt in
the Himalayas.
ISRO officials said it would help in catering to the
national and global data needs to address multiple aspects of
resource inventory and monitoring in specific areas of
applications including agriculture, water resources, rural
development, bio-resources and geological exploration.
Data from the satellite would help in facilitating a
variety of applications including disaster management and
related activities.
Apart from the three cameras — with high, medium and
coarse resolutions, Resourcesat-2 also has two solid state
recorders with a capacity of 200 GB each to store images which
can be accessed by the ground stations later.
It also carries Automatic Identification System (AIS)
from COMDEV, Canada, as an experimental payload for ship
surveillance in VHF band to derive position, speed and other
information about ships.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affiars and PMO V
Narayanaswamy described the succesful launch as a landmark
event and said the Prime Minister and the government "are with
the scientists to do more such work."