PSLV-C45 puts defence satellite Emisat in orbit

SRIHARIKOTA: In a mission of many firsts, India's EMISAT satellite was successfully launched from here today along with 28 nano satellites. ISRO's four-stage PSLV-C45 rocket put the satellites in three orbits, a significant first for India.The milestone launch of the EMISAT, aimed at electromagnetic measurement, was marked by ISRO conducting space experiments for the first time ever.Today's was the 47th flight of the PSLV, ISRO's 3rd-generation workhorse.. The countdown for the launch had begun on Sunday, ISRO said.After the mission, ISRO would now successfully manoeuvre satellites in different orbits and conduct orbital experiments including on maritime satellite applications.A new variant of the rocket PSLV-QL equipped with four Strap-on motors in the first stage is used for the launch, ISRO said.PSLV is a reliable and versatile launch vehicle for ISRO with 39 consecutive successful flights till June, 2017 and five-in-a row from January 2018. It was also used in "Chandrayan" in 2008 and Mars Orbiter in 2013 — India's two most significant missions.It has encountered only two failures so far — its maiden developmental flight in 1993, and the September 2017 failure of the IRNSS-1H Satellite launch.According to ISRO, this is the first time it has been envisaged to provide a micro-gravity environment for research organisations and academic institutes to perform experiments.The 436-kg primary satellite EMISAT, intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement, was successfully injected into a 749-km orbit orbit at around 17 minutes after lift-off.With PTI inputs

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2Ur06os