NovaSAR and S1-4 satellites are meant for surveying resources, environment monitoring, urban management and disaster monitoring
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C42) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched two satellites named NovaSAR and S1-4 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. The PSLV-C42 lifted off from the First Launch Pad of SHAR at 10.08 pm (IST). Both satellites were injected into the sun-synchronous orbit, about 17 minutes later, at an altitude of 583 km.
ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan congratulated the team soon after the successful mission. “I am extremely happy that the PSLV-C42 precisely launched two of our customer satellites at 583 km orbit. This was a unique night mission executed for the first time by us. The PSLV has proven yet again as a user-friendly vehicle in all aspects. The credit goes to the entire ISRO team and industries. This success will give added energy for industries to make PSLV by themselves. We are going to have 18 missions in the next six months, virtually one launch every two weeks,” Dr Sivan said.
Applications of NovaSAR and S1-4
NovaSAR carries S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and an Automatic Identification Receiver payloads. The satellite applications include forestry mapping, land use and ice cover monitoring, flood and disaster monitoring and maritime missions. It will be operated from SSTL’s Spacecraft Operations Centre in Guildford, UK.
S1-4 is a high-resolution earth observation satellite meant for surveying resources, environment monitoring, urban management and disaster monitoring.
This was the 44th flight of PSLV and the 12th flight of the Core Alone version of the vehicle. Core Alone is its lightest version without the six strap-on motors. It is used for launching smaller payloads.
The PSLV launch vehicle consists of four stages each of which is a self-contained vehicle capable of functioning independently with own propulsion systems. During the previous launch (PSLV-C41, April 12, 2018), the ‘XL’ version of PSLV with six strap-on motors was used. The vehicle launched the IRNSS-1I navigation satellite to a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
The vehicle’s guidance system is from ISRO’s Inertial Systems Unit, Thiruvananthapuram, while SDSC SHAR was responsible for the solid motor preparation, vehicle integration and launch infrastructure. ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network provided tracking support.
