In its 46th flight, the launch vehicle placed the 740-kg primary satellite Microsat-R, an imaging satellite meant for military purposes, in a 274-km polar sun synchronous orbit along with the Kalamsat.
Indian Space and Research Organisation’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C44) lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre today. In its 46th flight, the launch vehicle placed the 740-kg primary satellite Microsat-R, an imaging satellite meant for military purposes, in a 274-km polar sun synchronous orbit along with the Kalamsat.
The Kalamsat is a 10 cm size cube and weighs 1.2 kg, it was moved to a higher circular orbit to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments using the tiny payload. Kalamsat is said to be the lightest satellite of India.
In his post-launch address, Chairman Dr K Sivan said: “The PSLV C44 mission was unique as it was for the first time ISRO used the last stage of the rocket as a platform to perform experiments in space.
?I hope the student community will make use of this opportunity being provided by ISRO. This new low cost technology will help students to conduct several inspiring experiments in space by attaching their instruments to the last stage of the rocket,? Dr Sivan concluded.
