As the countdown to the launch of 3,136 kg communication satellite GSAT-19 has already begun, the India Space Research Organisation is all set to add new feathers to its tale of space journey so far. ISRO will use its heaviest available rocket GSLV Mark-III to launch the satellite at 5:28 pm today from second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. GSAT-19 launch is a potential game-changer that will revolutionise communications system mechanism – the satellite can help provide high speed internet and live streaming services, the kind that the country has never experienced before.
This will put ISRO’s name in national and international headlines for its savvy engineering, but it will not be for the first time. So far the Indian space research organisation has carried out around 84 spacecraft missions, 59 launch missions and planned several other missions including Chandrayaan-2, and Aditya (spacecraft). So, even as the country gets set to register another spectacular success courtesy ISRO, here’s a list of some of India’s recent space missions:
PSLV-C36 Resource SAT-2A, December 7, 2016:
ISRO last year launched its PSLV C36 Resource Sat-2A at around 10.25 am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre located in Sriharikota. It was ISRO’s 38th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and was intended to continue the remote sensing data services to users across the globe.
PSLV SCATSAT-1, September 26, 2016:
ISRO in 2016 successfully launched the PSLV SCATSAT-1 which carried 8 satellites into two different orbits. The rocket’s main cargo was the 371-kg SCATSAT-1 which was meant for ocean and weather related studies whereas the other 7 satellites included three from Algeria and one each from the US and Canada. This was ISRO’s longest launch mission that lasted for around 2 hours and 15 minutes.
GSLV F05, September 8, 2016:
ISRO had also conducted its first ever successful operational flight of heavy-lift GSLV rocket which had an indigenous cryogenic engine. The GSLV F05 carried a 2,211-kg INSAT-3DR weather satellite, the heaviest launched by India, into space in an orbit very close to the intended one.
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Countdown for @isro‘s GSLV-Mark- III-D1 starts today #GSLVMK3 pic.twitter.com/QShcKCIkkf
— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) June 4, 2017
PSLV-C34, June 22, 2016:
Creating a record, ISRO successfully launched as many as 20 satellites including its earth observation Cartosal-2 series, in one single mission on board its workhorse PSLV-C34 from Sriharikota last year. 12 out of the 19 foreign satellites were earth imaging “Dove satellites” of USA and another American satellite. The rest were from Canada (two) and one each from Germany and Indonesia.
Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), May 23, 2016:
ISRO ended 2016 with a remarkable maiden test flight of a Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. With this mission, ISRO joined the race to develop a space vehicle that can fly numerous times into space similarly like aeroplanes.
