ISRO launches EMISAT, 28 int’l satellites

PSLV-C45 lifted off at 9:27 am from the Second Launch Pad at spaceport Sriharikota and placed the country’s EMISAT into the required orbit after 17.12 minutes of the launch.

EMISAT, weighing over 430 kg, is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement. Soon after the launch, ISRO chairman Dr K Sivan congratulated the launch vehicle and satellite teams involved in the mission.

“Today’s PSLV mission was unique in several ways. It was a four strap-on new variant. The vehicle achieved three different orbits and for the first time, the PS4 stage was powered by solar panels,” Sivan said. Dr Sivan also placed on record the significant involvement of the industry in this mission.

So far, Sivan said PSLV has launched 46 national satellites, 10 satellites built by students from Indian universities and 297 international customer satellites, including those launched on Monday.

The 28 international satellites, together weighing about 220 kg, were from four countries – Lithuania (2), Spain (1), Switzerland (1) and USA (24). These foreign satellites were launched as part of commercial arrangements.

The payloads carried by rocket were Automatic Identification System from ISRO, Automatic Packet Repeating System from AMSAT, India and Advanced Retarding Potential Analyser for ionospheric studies from Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology.

After separation, the two solar arrays of EMISAT were deployed automatically and the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru assumed control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration.

In its next mission, PSLV-C46 will launch RISAT-2B in May 2019.