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Saturday, December 10, 2016

Indian Resource mapping satellite RESOURCESAT-2A blasted off from Sriharikota by PSLV-C36 Rocket

Once again India's PSLV delivered to orbit on Wednesday ( 7th December, 2016) the country's third space mission dedicated to mapping of natural resources creating a record year for Indian launch hitory.  

The Resurcesat-2A was launched by India's PSLV rocket ( PSLV-C36) in its 38th flight successfully at 10:25 hrs IST on 7th December, 2016.  The satellite weighed 1235 Kg.  

The 36 hur count down began on monday and the ground crew filled the PSLV's second and fourth stages with liquid fuels.   The PSLV-C36 lifted off at 04:55 GMT and climbed through a heavy rain shower and low clouds from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Center with 1.7 million pounds of thrust. 

The first four of the 12 meter auxiliary motors ( strap-on motors ) burned out and jettisoned around 70 seconds after lift-off followed by release of the last pair of boosters at T+92 seconds.   The first stage of the rocket consumed the solid propellant by T+1 minute and 50 seconds giving way to the Rocket's hydrazine-burning second stage Vikas Engine around 74 kilometers above Earth for a firing which lasted about 2 and 1/2 minutes with 1,80,000 pounds of thrust.   The onboard computers began closed-loop guidance during the second stage burn and the rocket's 3.2 meter diameter payload fairing fell down from the rocket at T+150 seconds.  

The PSLV headed eastwards first and then turned south in a "dogleg" maneuver to avoid flying over Sri Lanka accelerating to orbital velocity over Indian Ocean.   Once the Vikas Engine ( second stage ) emptied its 42 metric tonne supply of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants, the third stage ignited around T+4 minutes 23 seconds for nearly two minutes and then coasted off until separating from the Rocket's fourth stage at around T+ 8 minutes 41 seconds.  

The twin engine liquid fueled fourth stage took control  of the mission at T+ 8 minutes 51 seconds for an eight minute firing to obtain proper velocity to enter the targeted polar orbit.  Resourcesat-2A was separated at around 18 minutes after lift-off.  

The Resourcesat-2A will track agriculture, water resources, soil contamination and the growth of Indian cities.  This is a follow up for Resourcesat 1 and Resourcesat 2 launched earlier in 2003 and 2011.  The spacecraft was put into an orbit of 823 Kms high at an inclination of 98.7 degrees to equator.

The PSLV-C36 launched on wednesday demonstrated several upgrades to the PSLV's avionics systems including the improved navigation system, a fiber-optic gyroscope, indigenously-produced computer processors and an automated fueling system to the fourth stage.  The streamlined automatic fuelling system saved one day in the launch preparations and also for a safe work environment for ground engineers to prepare the rocket.

Here is a video of PSLV-C36 Launch  ....




India's PSLV-C35 successfully places eight satellites into two different orbit in a single flight

Again Indian Space Research Organization has made history by placing eight satellites into two different orbits in a single mission using PSLV-C35 Rocket.  In its 37th flight ( PSLV-C35) india's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle has successfully launched the 371 Kg SCATSAT-1 along with seven co-passenger satllites on 26th September, 2016 from its space port Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota  

This is the 36th consecutive successful flight of PSLV.  The total weight of the satellites is 675 Kg.  This is the first mission of PSLV to launch satellites into two different orbits and also this is the longest mission of PSLV till date and completed in 2 hours 15 minutes and 33 seconds after lift off.  

The PSLV-C35 lifted off at 09:12 hrs IST from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Center located at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.  All the events like strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition and separation, third stage ignition and separation, payload fairing separation, fourth stage ignition and cut-off took place as planned.  After 16 minutes and 56 seconds, the vehicle achieved a polar sun synchronous orbit of 724 Km with an inclination at an angle of 98.1 degrees to the equator and 37 seconds later the primary satellite SCATSAT-1 got separated.  

The two solar panels were deployed after separation of SCATSAT-1 and ISTRAC at Bangalore took the control of the satellite.  The satellite would provide weather related information using scatterometer payload.  The data would be useful in weather forecasting services as well as cyclone detection and tracking.  The PSLV mission continued after separation of SCATSAT-1 carrying the other 7 satellites.  The 4th stage coasted over the south pole and started ascending towards northern hemisphere.  After 1 hour 22 minutes 38 seconds after lift-off as the fourth stage was in North Pole region, the two engines of fourth stage were reignited and fired for 20 seconds.  Due to this firing, the rocket entered into an elliptical orbit of 725 Km  x  670 Km.   

The PSLV once again was coasting near south pole after 50 minutes, the engines were fired once again for 20 seconds.  This second firing made the fourth stage to enter into a circular orbit of 669 Km height inclined at 98.2 degrees to the equator.  After 37 seconds, the dual launch adopter was successfully separated from PSLV-C35 fourth stage.  30 seconds later, ALSat1N satellite got separated.  Following this, the NLS-19, PRATHAM, PISAT, ALSAT-1B, and Path finder-1 were separated in a pre determined sequence.

PRATHAm weighing 10 Kg and PISAT weighing 5.25 Kg  were made by Indian universities and academic institutions with the involvement of students of IIT Mumbai and PES University, Bangalore.   

Here is a video of PSLV-C35 Launch.....