ISRO to Launch Brazilian Satellite and 3 Indian Payloads in First Mission of 2021

India’s space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 and three Indian payloads on 28 February in its first mission of 2021.

The satellites, including one built by a home-grown start-up, are slated to be launched onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-51 at 10.24 am from the Sriharikota spaceport, said K Sivan, the secretary in the Department of Space and Chairman of Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO.

Amazonia-1, reportedly the first earth observation satellite entirely developed by Brazil, is the primary payload. ‘Anand’, ‘Satish Dhawan’ satellite and ‘UNITYsat’ will be the co-passengers.

‘Anand’ is built by Indian space startup Pixxel and ‘Satish Dhawan Satellite’ by Chennai-based Space Kidz India.

UNITYsat is a combination of three satellites designed and built as a joint development by Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Sriperumpudur (JITsat), G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur (GHRCEsat) and Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore (Sri Shakthi Sat).

“PSLV-C51 marks the launch of the countrys first commercial private remote-sensing satellite (Anand) on an ISRO PSLV rocket”, an ISRO official was quoted as saying by PTI.

Sivan had earlier described the upcoming mission as “special for us, special for the entire country” and beginning of a “new era of space (sector) reforms”.

Pixxel CEO, Awais Ahmed had said: “We are elated with the fact that India’s first commercial private satellite will now launch on an Indian rocket. This is not only a proud moment for us as an organisation but also as citizens to work with our nation’s capabilities.”

Bengaluru-based Pixxel has said it plans to build a constellation of 30 satellites by 2023. The company inaugurated it’s new facility here last month.

According to Space Kidz India, Satish Dhawan satellite (SD SAT), named after former ISRO chairman Satish Dhawan, aimed to study space radiation and Magnetosphere and demonstrate the indigenously designed and developed nanosatellite components.

“The satellite also tests the capabilities of LoRa technology in Space which could be helpful for many applications in the future in short and M2M communication”, it said.

Source: LiveMint