ISRO’s Next: Cartosat-2, 30 Other Satellites Set For Launch In Single Mission This January

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today (29 December) announced that it would launch 31 satellites, including the Cartosat-2 series earth observation space craft, in a single mission onboard its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission on 10 January.

This will be the first PSLV mission after the launch of navigation satellite IRNSS-1H in August that went unsuccessfully.

The Mission Readiness Review Committee (MRRC) and Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) is scheduled to meet in the coming days would take the final call.

PSLV-C40 will take off from the spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The mission would combine 28 nano satellites from other countries, including Finland and the United States, one micro and nano satellite from India along with the Cartosat.

On 31 August 31, India's mission to launch a backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H on board the PSLV-C39 ended in a failure when a technical glitch occurred during the final leg following a perfect launch.

ISRO had then said that the heat shield did not separate during the final leg of the launch sequence resulting in the IRNSS-1H getting stuck in the fourth stage of the rocket.

The Cartosat-2 series satellite launch is a follow-on mission with a primary objective of providing high resolution scene specific spot imageries. It will carry panchromatic and multi-spectral cameras operating in a time delay integration mode that would be capable of delivering high resolution data.

This would be the third satellite in the Cartosat-2 series. In February, the PSLV-C37 launched the first Cartosat-2 series satellite along with 103 satellites in a single flight. Of these, 101 were cube satellites.

In June, the launch vehicle launched the second one along with 30 other satellites, marking the thirty-ninth consecutive successful mission of the PSLV.