On February 25, 2013, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C20), on its twenty second successive successful flight, placed the satellite with Argos and Altika (SARAL), an Indo-French joint mission, in polar orbit, and also placed six other satellites belonging to Austria, Canada, Denmark and United Kingdom in their intended orbits. SARAL carries a radar altimeter (Ka band Altimeter - ALTIKA) to study sea surface altitude and a data collection platform (ARGOS) for collecting data from ocean buoys and weather data centers. Data is currently being received by both France and India and after the validation phase, the products will be made available globally. On July 01, 2013, PSLV-C22 precisely placed the first satellite of India’s Regional navigational satellite system constellation, IRNSS-1A into its intended orbit. IRNSS-1A is the first of the seven-satellite constellation designed for providing position, navigation and timing services over the Indian region. Indias weather satellite, INSAT 3D carrying advanced weather monitoring payloads, was successfully launched by Arianespace from Kourou, French Guiana on July 25, 2013. Arianespace has also launched India’s advanced communication satellite GSAT-7 on August 30, 2013. The Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO is undertaking a “Mars Orbiter Mission”, as the first step by India towards exploring the planet Mars. The primary technological objective of this mission is to design and realize a spacecraft with a capability to reach Mars, and to orbit around Mars. The Mars Orbiter Mission is scheduled for launch during October-November 2013 from Sriharikota using PSLV, and would be captured around Planet Mars in September 2014. India’s geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle GSLV-Mk II, with Indian cryogenic stage, carrying GSAT-14 satellite, is also scheduled for launch this year. India is also getting ready to launch the first Indian space based observatory for multi-wavelength observations of the celestial bodies and cosmic sources, named ASTROSAT
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 18:42:19 +0000
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