ISRO’s PSLV-C43 Successfully Places All 31 Satellites Into Orbit

The PSLV C43 Rocket that carried the HysIS satellite along with the other 30 foreign satellites.

(Photo Courtesy: ISRO)

ISRO’s PSLV-C43 rocket has successfully injected the Earth observation satellite HysIS, along with 30 other satellites, into orbit, ISRO confirmed.

The PSLV-C43 rocket carried a total payload of 461.5kg, comprising 29 nano satellites, one micro satellite, and the HysIS imaging satellite.

The launch was scheduled at 9:58 am on Thursday, 29 November, from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The HysIS staellite.(Photo Courtesy: ISRO)

“HysIS is an earth observation satellite developed by ISRO. It is the primary satellite of the PSLV-C43 mission. The satellite will be placed in a 636 km polar sun synchronous orbit (SSO), with an inclination of 97.957 deg. The mission life of the satellite is five years.”

ISRO statement

According to the space agency, the primary goal of HysIS is to study the earth's surface in visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The co-passengers of HysIS include one Micro and 29 Nano satellites from eight different countries, the agency said, adding, all these satellites will be placed in a 504 km orbit by PSLV-C43.

The countries are:

• United States of America (23 satellites)
• Australia
• Canada
• Columbia
• Finland
• Malaysia
• Netherlands
• Spain

These satellites have been commercially contracted for launch through Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO, the space agency said.

The HysIS satellite during pre-flight testing.(Photo Courtesy: ISRO)

PSLV is ISRO’s third generation launch vehicle. It can carry up to 1,750 kg of payload into polar SSO of 600 km altitude. PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages. 

Additionally, PSLV has been used to launch planetary missions as well as satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, ISRO said.

PSLV-C43, which is the 45th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), is the 'Core Alone' version of PSLV. It is the lightest version of the launch vehicle.

This will be ISRO's second launch in the month. The space agency had launched its latest communication satellite GSAT-29 on board GSLV MkIII-D2 on 14 November.