India
The countdown for the launch of PSLV -C44 began at 7:37 pm on Wednesday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The launch is scheduled at 11:37 pm on Thursday
Chennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set for the launch of its Kalamsat, a satellite developed by students, onboard India's PSLV-C44 from the spaceport of Sriharikota on Thursday. It is the 46th satellite being launched by ISRO.
"The countdown for the launch of PSLV-C44 mission started at 7:37 pm on Wednesday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The launch is scheduled at 11:37 pm on January 24, 2019," a mission update by ISRO said.
ISRO's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 46th flight, would lift off from the first launch pad at the SDSC in Sriharikota.
PSLV-C44 is the first mission of PSLV-DL, a new variant of the 44.4 metre tall rocket equipped with two strap-on configuration, ISRO said.
"In this mission, the fourth stage (PS4) of PSLV-C44 will be moved to higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments," the ISRO said.
According to the mission launch brochure, Kalamsat, the first to use PS4 as orbital platform, is a payload contributed by students and Microsat-R is an imaging satellite.
The four-stage PSLV with alternating solid and liquid stages has so far launched 53 Indian and 269 satellites of international customers.
In its last mission, on November 29 last year, the ISRO successfully injected India's earth observation satellite HysIS onboard PSLV C43 into its designated orbit.
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