Bengaluru: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the PSLV-C55/TeLEOS-2 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR) in Sriharikota on April 22, 2023 at 14:19 IST.

This is a dedicated commercial mission conducted by NSIL, with TeLEOS-2 serving as the primary satellite and Lumelite-4 serving as a co-passenger satellite. The satellites weigh around 741 and 16 kg, respectively. Both are Singaporean satellites. They are designed to be launched into an orbit with a low inclination to the east.

About the launch vehicle: PSLV-CA 

ISRO built the PSLV-CA, which was launched for the first time on April 23, 2007. CA stands for ”

” and the model debuted on April 23, 2007. With a total of 15 launches, PSLV-CA had 15 successful launches and 0 unsuccessful launches.

The six strap-on boosters used by the PSLV standard form are not included in the CA model. When compared to the normal version, the fourth stage of the CA variant uses 400 kg less propellant. It can currently launch 1,100 kg into a 622 kilometre Sun-synchronous orbit.

TeLEOS-2

The TeLEOS-2 satellite is being developed in collaboration with DSTA (representing the Singapore government) and ST Engineering ( Satellite Systems). Once installed and operational, it will be utilised to support the satellite imagery needs of various agencies within the Singapore government.

TeLEOS-2 is equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload. TeLEOS-2 will be capable of imaging at 1m full-polarimetric resolution and will provide all-weather day and night coverage. It will have a 500 GB onboard recorder for storing collected data and a high-speed downlink of 800 Mbps.

ISRO launched TeLEOS-1, the first Singapore commercial Earth Observation Satellite, into low Earth orbit in 2015 for remote sensing applications. Singapore has had nine satellites launched by ISRO thus far.

Lumelite-4

The Lumelite-4 satellite was co-developed by Agency for Science, Technology, and Research’s (A*STAR) Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) and the National University of Singapore’s Satellite Technology and Research Centre (STAR). Lumelite-4 is a high-performance 12U satellite designed to demonstrate the High-Performance Space-borne VHF Data Exchange System (VDES). It intends to improve Singapore’s e-navigation maritime safety and assist the worldwide shipping community by utilising the VDES communication payload created by I2R and STAR’s scalable satellite bus architecture.

POEM-2

The mission includes the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM), which uses the discarded PS4 stage of the launch vehicle as an orbital platform to conduct scientific experiments using non-separating payloads. ISRO/Department of Space, Bellatrix, Dhruva Space, and Indian Institute of Astrophysics own the payloads.

ISRO’s missions 

This is ISRO’s third launch of the year, and all three launches have used different launch vehicles. The new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) was used for the inaugural launch in February. The second launch, in March, used the country’s heaviest rocket, LVM3. On a strictly commercial mission, it launched 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit.

-The writer is a Defence and Aerospace Analyst. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda.