Jet, set: ISRO readies for century shot Sunday

This Sunday will be a working day for those at the Indian Space Research Organisation, that too a hectic one.

The space agency is set to reach another milestone — the 100th Indian space mission —  when PSLV-C21 lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota at 9.51 am. And, among those looking up at the sky from the space port for a perfect launch will be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The PSLV-C21 is the latest in a string of Indian space missions that began in 1975 with the launch of Aryabhata, India’s first satellite. Aryabhata was injected into orbit aboard a Russian rocket. Initially all satellites assembled by ISRO were launched with the help of foreign rockets. In 1980, the first indigenous launch vehicle, the SLV-3, was successfully launched. Eighty-five missions have passed between then and now, and a majority of these have been successful.

A mission encompasses either a satellite or a launch vehicle. An Indian satellite launched aboard an Indian space vehicle would count as two missions.

PSLV-C21 will carry SPOT 6, a French Earth Observation Satellite weighing 712 kg, making it the heaviest foreign satellite that ISRO would have put in orbit, if the mission is successful. SPOT 6 is capable of imaging the earth with a resolution of 1.5 metres, and has been built by the European Astrium SAS.

Apart from that, PROITERES, a Japanese micro satellite, weighing in at 15 kg, will also be taken to space by the launch vehicle as auxiliary payload. It is intended to study the behaviour of an electric thru-ster when used to power a small satellite. It would further be used to observe the Kansai region of Japan’s island of Honshu.

ISRO has also become an important player in the international satellite launch market for micro, small and medium satellites, through its commercial arm Antrix. SPOT 6 and PROITERES will be the 28th and 29th satellites to be launched into space by ISRO.

PSLV-C21 is the latest launch vehicle of ISRO’s immensely successful PSLV platform. It will be the 22nd PSLV flight and the eighth flight of the PSLV-CA (core alone) configuration. It was aboard his version that ISRO created history by launching 10 satellites in one go on April 28, 2008.

Scientists at the space agency have expressed confidence over the success of the mission and said they are hoping for a picture perfect finish.