Chennai: After being hit hard by Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown for nearly eight months that impacted various launch schedules, the Indian Space Agency is gearing up for 2020’s first mission, when its workhorse PSLV, carrying RISAT-2BR2 satellite, will take to the skies on 7 November.
Sources said that PSLV-C49, carrying the Radar Imaging Satellite, the primary paylod, along with foreign satellites would lift off from the First Launch Pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota, about 100 km from here, at around 3 pm on 7 November.
Reports said that about ten foreign satellites were expected to ride piggyback with RISAT-2BR2. The launch was earlier scheduled for 6 November, but was deferred by a day.
The sources said all pre-launch activities were progressing and after getting the nod from the Mission Readiness Review Committee, the countdown was expected to commence either on 5 or 6 November.
To be injected into a low earth orbit, RISAT-2BR2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that could take pictures in all weather conditions which could be used both for surveillance and civilian applications, like agriculture, forestry, soil moisture, geology, coastal monitoring and flood monitoring.
RISAT-2BR2 was an advanced earth observation satellite which could take images through clouds and this ‘new eye in the sky’ would boost the military surveillance capabilities from space and help security forces keep a hawk eye on the borders, at a time India’s LAC standoff with China.
For the second time, ISRO would be using PSLV’s DL variant which would have two strap-on motors. It was first used on January 24 last year when it injected Microsat-R satellite in the orbit.
Since the launch of the GISAT-1 satellite mission with GSLV-F10 slated for March this year was postponed due to technical reasons before the Covid-pandemic had slowed down various missions, ISRO was planning to put it in the skies next month using GSLV, which was dismantled after the mission was called off.
PSLV-C49 would be followd by PSLV-C50 with communication satellite GSAT-12R next month, besides the much-awaited first technology demonstrator–the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
For the SSLV launch, the first launch pad would be reconfigured after the PSLV-C49, mission to house the shorter sslv which would be a three stage vehicle filled with soild prospellants.
To ensure that the launch preparations started gaining momentum, especially after some of its personnel in SHAR Range tested positive for Covid-19 and recovered, ISRO has developed a Virtual Launch Control Centre to test the rocket systems at the spaceport remotely from VSC in Thiruvananthapuram.
This was done to reduce travel risk of ISRO personnel in view of the pandemic. The last mission that took place from Sriharikota was PSLV-C48 which ferried ‘spy’ satellite RISAT-2BR1 on 11 December, 2019.