With two more launches planned, ISRO aims to end the year on high note

Participating in the World Space Week-2016 celebrations organised by the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, in association with SDSC and ISRO, here, he said the next mission would be PSLV-C36 towards the end of November, which would be followed by the launch of heavier rocket GSLV MkIII by the end of this year. In its 38th flight, PSLV, the workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO with 36 successive successful launches, would put in orbit the remote sensing satellite RESOURCESAT-2. ‘’The PSLV mission will take place by November end and it will also carry some passenger payloads from other countries, though the main satellite will be RESOURCESAT-2,’’ Dr Kunhikrishnan said. 

With record six launches in 2016 —five PSLV missions and a GSLV mission from the SHAR Range—ISRO would be ending the year with a total of eight launches, which would be double —again a first for ISRO, when compared to four launches in 2015. The PSLV-C36 mission comes in the backdrop of ISRO successfully demonstrating its multiple burnt technology, when PSLV-C35 in a precise mission on September 26 had injected SCATSAT-1 and seven other satellites in two different orbits for the first time.

It was one of the longest mission for ISRO as the first orbit was achieved about 17 minutes after lift-off when SCATSAT-1 was injected and the second orbit about two hours later when the fourth stage engine was switched off and restarted twice after which the remaining seven satellites were placed in a different orbit. Earlier, speaking at the World Space Week (WSW), which has the theme ‘Remote sensing: Enabling our future,’ the SDSC Director said so far 56 launch missions has been completed from Sriharikota and the workhorse launch vehicle, PSLV, has launched 79 foreign satellites so far.

Stating that the WSW marked the international celebration of science and technology, he said the UN General Assembly had in 1999, declared that the WSW would be held each year from October 4 to 10. Quiz programmes, project exhibitions, elocution and drawing competitions were held and more than 500 students from various schools participated.