PSLV-C16 launch successful, satellites injected into orbit

SRIHARIKOTA: In a precision launch, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle- C16 placed on a 822-km sunsynchronous orbit three satellites – ResourceSat – 2, an Indo-Russian YouthSat and Singapore's first satellite X Sat, on Wednesday.

The launch went off as per schedule and the satellites were placed in orbit 18 minutes after blast off from the launch pad at the Sriharikota spaceport.

Wednesday's successful launch, which was the 17th consecutive one for India's space warhorse PSLV, has pushed up India'a remote sensing capabilities.

Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Radhakrishnan said the launch was a grand success. "We wanted to put the satellites into a 820-km orbit, but we got an 822 km orbit," he said. The mission cost Rs 250 crore.

The launch was keenly watched across the world as data from ResourceSat – 2 will be used by 15 countries. The satellite, which weighs 1206 kg will collect data including those on ground water and mineral resources on land and fish density in the sea. The satellite is equipped with three cameras that can cover 740 km wide, 141 km wide and 17 km wide at resolutions ranging from 22 metres to 5 metres.

"The satellite will replace ResourceSat I which is in orbit since 2003. ResourceSat- 2 is a global mission and has many improvements. It has three cameras that can monitor natural resources at different resolutions. It can be used to monitor snow cover, glacier changes, urban landscape and others," said Radhakrishnan.

PSLV-C16 mission director Kunhikrishnan said all the stages of the rocket performed well. "The solid stage propulsion and liquid stage propulsion worked well and we were able to achieve the orbit in 18 minutes after the launch. The solar panel of ResourceSat- 2 has been deployed and the satellite was pushed to the second orbit soon. If all goes well with the satellite, the ground centre in Bangalore will start receiving images from April 18," he said.

The other payloads are 92-kg YouthSat, an Indo-Russian stellar and atmospheric satellite built with the participation of students from Universities. It is the second in A mini satellite series. The YouthSat mission intends to investigate the relationship between solar variability and upper layers of atmosphere.

The third one, X Sat, is Singapore's first satellite and weighs 106 kg. The mini satellite has a multispectral camera IRIS as its main load. The satellite intends to demonstrate technologies related to satellite-based remote sensing and onboard image processing.

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Rocket launch failure will not delay moon mission - ISRO chief

Sriharikota: The failure of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Development 3 rocket launch powered for the first time by an indigenous cryogenic engine will not delay the realization of the country's second moon mission, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said on Thursday.

"If we are able to flight test an indigenously built cryogenic engine in a year's time, then Chandrayaan 2 can be realized by 2013," Radhakrishnan told reporters post the launch here.

The GSLV-D3 rocket plunged into the Bay of Bengal after its cryogenic engine failed to ignite, in a setback to India's space programme.

ISRO's Rs. 330 crore-mission failed minutes after the rocket lifted off at 4.27 p.m.

ISRO had earlier announced its plans to use its GSLV rocket for its second moon mission.

Referring to the failed rocket flight he said, "The rocket lifted at 4.27 pm after the 29-hour countdown that began on Wednesday at 11.27 a.m. The rocket performed as expected till the second stage into the flight.

"We were not sure whether the main cryogenic engine - the third stage - did ignite as the vehicle started tumbling. We have to confirm that after analyzing the data which is expected to get over in two or three days."

He said that while the cryogenic engine when tested on ground got ignited, during flight it had failed to get fired in vacuum.

The setback is serious as the rocket's cryogenic engine is an outcome of 18-years' labor on the part of ISRO scientists, spending around Rs. 335 crore.

Queried how far the failure would put back ISRO's clock, he said: "We have plans to realize 11 GSLV rockets. We have been fabricating necessary systems."

According to him, ISRO will bounce back within a year by launching a rocket powered by indigenously developed cryogenic engine.

He said ISRO will be flying two more GSLV rockets fitted with Russian-made cryogenic engines to launch two GSAT series satellites.

"The next GSLV rocket with Russian cryogenic engine will fly from here sometime in September this year," he said.

On the issue of sourcing cryogenic engines from outside, he said, "The primary issue is to be self reliant in rocket technology. Today we are able to realize a cryogenic engine for Rs. 36 crore whereas if procured from overseas the price will be around $20 million or Rs. 90 crore."

According to him, GSLV is working to bring down the launch cost, which currently is around $20,000 per kilo of payload.

"We should bring down the cost to $10,000 per kilo once we realize GSLV Mark III (the advanced version of GSLV rocket)," he said.

Speaking of other launches, he said a cartography satellite will be flown on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) next month along with a couple of small satellites as co-passengers. IANS