ISRO Launches PSLV-C56 Carrying 7 Satellites From Sriharikota

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched PSLV-C56 carrying seven satellites including the primary satellite DS-SAR and 6 co-passenger satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota on Sunday. The launch took place at 6.30 am today.

The space organisation said that approximately 23 minutes after liftoff, the main satellite successfully separated from the launch vehicle. Subsequently, six additional co-passenger satellites were sequentially deployed into their designated orbits.

This launch comes after the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3 launch earlier this month. The latest project is being undertaken by its commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and this mission follows PSLV-C55/TeLEOS-2 mission, which was successfully launched in April to serve the customers in Singapore.

"The PSLV-C56 carrying seven satellites including primary satellite DS-SAR and six co-passenger satellites have been successfully placed in the right orbits," ISRO Chairman S Somanath said. "This is the mission of the PSLV for NSIL and I want to congratulate the customers sponsored by Government of Singapore for having this mission on board PSLV and their continued faith in our PSLV for deploying the spacecrafts (satellites) from Singapore," he said at the Mission Control Centre.

"Congratulations once again to NSIL for the Singapore satellites which have been onboard this mission and the very perfect orbit that this time we have got. But at this moment I thank all of you for watching this mission early morning this day and supporting us and congratulating us and we want to specifically tell you that we are going to come back with another PSLV mission soon in the month of August or early September" he added.

Talking about the launch, the space organisation on Twitter said, "PSLV-C56/DS-SAR Mission: The mission is successfully accomplished. PSLV-C56 vehicle launched all seven satellites precisely into their intended orbits. Thanks to @NSIL_India and Singapore, for the contract."

NewSpace India Ltd Chairman and Managing Director D Radhakrishnan said, "My heartiest congratulations to team ISRO for the PSLV project across various centres for giving us such a marvelous and precise mission and I don't think the customer would have asked for anything better than what we have just seen in today's mission.

"I would say in the history of our PSLV launches, commercial launches for international customers, a single customer (Singapore government) coming to PSLV continuously four times for a dedicated launch has been a real record and that shows the kind of trust the customer has laid on the teams here. I am aware Singapore is planning many more missions in the future and they will continue to have trust on our services and the most reliable launcher, the PSLV that we have offered the service, and I am sure they will offer us many more opportunities for us to give them the best launch in the international community." he said.

Today, in a dedicated commercial mission, ISRO's reliable Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is carrying the DS-SAR Radar Imaging Earth Observation satellite as its primary payload. This satellite is the result of a collaborative effort between DSTA, representing the Government of Singapore, and ST Engineering, Singapore.

Weighing 360 kg, the satellite will be deployed into a Near-equatorial Orbit (NEO) at an altitude of 535 km. Its primary purpose is to cater to the satellite imagery needs of various governmental agencies in Singapore. Additionally, ST Engineering will utilize the satellite to provide multi-modal and highly responsive imagery and geospatial services to its commercial customers.

The satellite carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries. The payload allows DS-SAR to provide for all-weather day-and-night coverage and it is capable of imaging at 1-metre resolution.

The co-passenger satellites are 1. VELOX-AM,a 23 kg technology demonstration microsatellite, 2. ARCADE Atmospheric Coupling and Dynamics Explorer (ARCADE), an experimental satellite, 3. SCOOB-II, a 3U nanosatellite flying a technology demonstrator payload, 4. NULloN by NuSpace, an advanced 3U nanosatellite enabling seamless Internet of Things connectivity in both urban and remote locations, 5. Galassia-2, a 3U nanosatellite that would be orbiting at low earth orbit and 6. ORB-12 STRIDER, a satellite developed under an international collaboration, the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said.

Today's mission is the 58th flight of PSLV and using the 17th vehicle with Core Alone Configuration.