Saudi Arabia welcomes trilateral border treaty between Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan    Trump prepares to unveil sweeping new US tariffs on 'Liberation Day'    At least 22 civilians killed in Israeli strike on UNRWA clinic in Gaza    UK says it won't jump into US trade war as Starmer urges calm response to tariffs    Russia, Ukraine trade fresh accusations of violating US-brokered energy ceasefire deal    Swedish table tennis legend Jörgen Persson appointed head coach of Saudi national team    Danilo Pereira fires Al Ittihad into King's Cup final with dramatic stoppage-time double    Over 1 million pilgrims benefit from golf cart service at Grand Mosque during Ramadan    Visitors welcomed with Eid initiative at Thee Ain Heritage Village in Al-Baha    Tebuk emir reviews rain response in Tayma    Saudi Arabia considers rent cap as part of major real estate reforms    Messi's bodyguard banned from touchline at Inter Miami games    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Haramain High-Speed Railway transports over 1.2 million passengers during Ramadan    Saudi Transport Authority says passengers can ride for free if taxi meters are off    Ministry of Education forms 425 community partnerships with SR653 million impact    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    T1 CEO confirms Gumayusi's return for LCK Spring after lineup shakeup    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



ISRO sets another milestone with two-orbit mission
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 26 - 01 - 2017

[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="ISRO sets another milestone with two-orbit mission" ids="115365,115366,115367"]
Dr. Ajey Lele
ON Sept. 26, 2016, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched eight satellites into the Low Earth Orbit. This PSLV C-35 mission is unique in many ways. It once again proved the reliability of India's most dependable workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). This was PSLV's 36th successive, successful launch. Also, this mission has sent a key Indian weather satellite into the space. With this mission, ISRO for the first time placed satellites in different orbits in a single attempt. Few in the world have the capability to launch satellites into two different orbits in a single mission. Recently, European Union's Vega launch vehicle demonstrated this capability.
PSLV C-35 launched a 371-kg weather satellite (SCATSAT-1) into the Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (Polar SSO) at an altitude of 720 km. As per the standard PSLV configuration, this satellite was delivered in the orbit approximately within 17 minutes after the launch. Here the real technical challenge for ISRO scientists was to ensure the correct placement of the remaining seven satellites into a different orbit. This has been one of the longest missions ever undertaken by ISRO and it lasted for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
The last and the fourth stage of the PSLV launcher was to perform the required maneuvers and the main challenge was to switch on and off the engine twice during a period of approximately two hours. With the cut-off of the fourth stage, SCATSAT-1 satellite was placed in the orbit. Later, after 1 hour and 5 minutes, two engines of PSLV fourth stage were reignited and fired for 20 seconds. This allowed the craft to enter into an elliptical orbit, and subsequently 50 minutes later the PSLV's fourth stage fired its engines again for another 20 seconds. This second firing ensured the entry into a correct orbit for remaining seven satellites.
SCATSAT-1 is an important addition to the Indian inventory of meteorological satellites. The satellite would assist India's weather forecasting services and also contribute in improving the existing cyclone detection and tracking services. SCATSAT-1 can also be considered as a replacement satellite for Oceansat-2, which was launched in 2009 with five years of designed life. Because of the enhanced application potential of SCATSAT-1, the new replacement unit is expected to provide data inputs with greater accuracy.
In this mission, apart from the weather satellite, there are two other satellites with an Indian stamp on them. These are PISAT and PRATHAM – the satellites developed by educational institutions. The remaining satellites include three commercial payloads from Algeria (ALSAT-1B, 2B and 1N) and a payload each from Canada (NLS-19) and the United States (Pathfinder-1).
The important aspect of this mission that should not go unnoticed is that India is encouraging university students to develop satellites. ISRO has been promoting the participation of students in its space program for the last few years. Since 2009, ISRO has launched nine student satellites. ISRO provides technical guidance in designing, fabrication and testing to the student community. And it is the students who have to do the actual planning, designing and construction of the satellites.
One such ‘product' is PRATHAM which is a result of almost one decade of convincing, conceptualization, planning, learning, experimentation, designing and production by the students of Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B). The 10-kg microsatellite has been designed to measure the Total Electron Count (TEC) in the ionosphere with a resolution of 1km x 1km location grid.
This satellite has been developed with an approximate budget of Rs.1.5 crore. The students of IIT-B worked hard to make their dream a reality.
Initially, the pioneers of this idea thought it would take them around two years to realize their dream. However, from the drawing board to the actual launch, it took eight years and seven graduating batches to finish the job. With the student community being the Principal Investigator (PI), several batches of students ensured that when they pass out, the satellite's mantle was passed on systematically to the next.
As this IIT-B satellite would be measuring the electron count in the ionosphere, this information could assist in detecting tsunamis, reduce communication errors, and improve the accuracy of the Indian alternative to the GPS system.
Other co-passenger satellite carried by PSLV C-35 is PISAT, built with the involvement of students from PES University, Bengaluru, and its consortium. The 5.25-kg remote sensing nanosatellite will take snapshots of Earth, with the focus on India. It has a three-axis image stabilizing system and the telemetry and telecommand systems on board the satellite will help in tracking and maintaining the satellite post launch.
The PSLV C-35 launch has proved yet again the innovative character of ISRO, as the Indian space agency has always been a forward looking organization ensuring maintenance of socio-economic focus of its space agenda. Now it is also increasingly engaging young minds in order to ensure that the existing group of rocket scientists passes on the mantle of leading all future missions to the young blood.


Clic here to read the story from its source.