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NT Bureau
Chennai, Jan 9:

        India's space agency is set to achieve a breakthrough tomorrow with the launch of four payloads, including the 680kg CARTOSAT-2 satellite and a recoverable space capsule, on a single rocket for the first time.

        Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s PSLV-C7 rocket will carry the payloads, including Indonesian and Argentinean satellites, into space in what is being considered a milestone in the country's space programme.

        The PSLV-C7 will carry remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2, 550kg space capsule recovery experiment SRE-1, Indonesia's 56kg LAPAN-TUBSAT and the 6 kg Argentina's nanosatellite, PEHUENSAT-1 into the 635 km polar synchronous orbit.

        Mission Readiness Review Committee facility's director M Annamali and the Mission Director N Narayana Moorthy said that the recovery capsule is significant as it will pave the way for ISRO's future reusable launch vehicle project.

        The SRE-1 will provide valuable experience in key fields like navigation, guidance and control during the reentry phase, development of reusable thermal protection system and basic technology for reusable launch vehicles, Moorthy said. SRE-1 comprises an aero-thermo structure, spacecraft platform deceleration and floatation systems and micro gravity payloads. Prior to its de-orbiting, SRE-1 will be placed in an elliptical orbit. Subsequently, it will be reoriented and its de-boost rocket will be fired to make it re-enter the earth's atmosphere, Moorthy said.

        On reentry, a parachute system will reduce its touchdown speed and SRE-1 is expected to land in the Bay of Bengal, about 140 km east of Sriharikota. It is planned to recover the SRE-1 after the spacecraft spends 12 days in orbit and completes micro-gravity experiments, he added.

        CARTOSAT-2, the 12th in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series, is an advanced remote sensing satellite capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery. The data available from it will be used for planning rural and urban development, Annamali informed. The satellite has a panchromatic camera to provide imagery with a spatial resolution of better than one metre and a swath of 9.6 km, Moorthy said and added that it can spot objects on the ground measuring about a metre.

        The re-visiting time of the satellite is four days and the satellite will be placed in a 635-km polar sun synchronous orbit and its operational life is five years. Referring to modifications incorporated in PSLV-C7, Moorthy said to accommodate the payloads, a dual launch adopter (DLA) has been used in the rocket for the first time.

        The countdown has already began 52 hours ahead of the launch and the rocket will be fired from the first launch pad, he said.

        The Lapan-TUBSAT is an earth observation satellite — a cooperative venture between the Technical University of Berlin and the Indonesian Space Agency, while PEHUENSAT-1, developed by Argentina School of Engineering and Argentina Association for Space and Technology, is intended to gain experience for designing more complex satellites for educational, technological and scientific purposes. The last CARTOSAT-I PSLV-C6 was sent on 5 May, 2005 were the mission is in-service.