India will launch six Singapore-made satellites, including a dedicated 400 kg spacecraft for carrying out surveillance missions for maritime and border security, in mid-December on board PSLV-C29.The six satellites will be launched on PSLV-C29 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh on December 16. The satellites will then hover about 550 km above ground for up to five years.
The December 16 launch comes four years after Singapore put its first home-grown micro-satellite in space. Since the launch of the fridge-size X-Sat in 2011, smaller satellites have subsequently been launched by Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The 400 kg TeLEOS-1 is the biggest and first Singapore-made commercial earth observation satellite to orbit in space, said ST Electronics COMMUNICATION
and sensor systems group president Tang Kum Chuen.
The satellite will carry a camera that can take pictures at ground resolution of up to 1 metre. Tang said the TeLEOS-1, expected to last up to five years, will also be able to conduct missions such as disaster monitoring, coastal surveillance, urban planning and homeland security.
Some interesting facts…
- PSLV is often seen as a reliable and cheap satellite-launching medium globally. Till 2014, it has launched more foreign satellites than indigenous ones (40 foreign + 31 Indian).
- As of now, PSLV has launched 40 international satellites including those of France, Germany, South Korea, European Union, Indonesia, Argentina, Italy, Israel, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Turkey, Algeria, Norway, Austria, Singapore, Russia and the UK. None of the customers were left disappointed, all satellites were successfully placed in the respective orbits.
- Out of 29 launches, only 2 have failed. This makes PSLV’s success rate as 93.1%.
- PSLV launched an American satellite and 3 British satellites this June. In December 2015, there will be 2 more launches of Indian satellites.
Try it…
________________ on 1 April 2015 was appointed as Director of ISRO Space Centre, Bengaluru.
