After a two-month delay, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) is ready for a launch on July 12 from the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The flight was to take place on May 9 but was postponed because of a drop in the pressure in the vehicle's second stage.
The rocket will put in orbit five satellites – Cartosat-2B from India, Alsat from Algeria, two nano satellites from Canada and Switzerland, and a pico (very small) satellite called Studsat built by engineering college students in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
“Preparations are going on for the launch of the PSLV-C-15 on July 12,” said S. Satish, ISRO spokesman.
The four-stage vehicle is fully assembled in its launch pad and Cartosat-2B will be integrated with the vehicle on Saturday and Sunday. Cartosat-2B would be used for mapping purposes and it would be an addition to Cartosat-2 and Cartosat-2A.
Weighing 694 kg, Cartosat-2B will be put in a polar sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 630 km. It will have a resolution of less than one metre, which means it can take images of small objects on earth. The satellite will help in urban planning and infrastructure development such as laying ring-roads and rerouting of highways. Alsat from Algeria, weighing 116 kg, is also a remote-sensing satellite. The two nano satellites, NLS 6.1 and NLS 6.2, weigh six kg and one kg each. Studsat weighs less than one kg.
“It is meant to provide an exposure to students on building a satellite and learning the nuances of space technology by establishing a communication between the satellite and the ground stations,” Mr. Satish said.
The mission was delayed by two months because of a contaminant in the vehicle's second stage that uses liquid propellants. The problem turned out to be bigger than expected.
So the second stage was taken back to the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri, near Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, and cleaned. Then it was transported to Sriharikota again and integrated with the first stage.