THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will flight-test several new technologies aboard Wednesday’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C-36 (PSLV C-36) mission which will lift off from Sriharikota with the Resourcesat 2-A satellite.
They include technologies designed for a new avionics system, including the NavIC receiver developed by ISRO’s Space Applications Centre (SAC), and an on-board check-out computer, ISRO officials said. ISRO has fixed the launch for 10.25 am from the first launch pad.
A video imaging system consisting of five cameras will capture the separation of stages, payload faring and the satellite. The Navigation, Guidance and Control Package (NGCP), which is to be tested, uses the ‘Made in India’ Vikram 1601 processor developed by ISRO’s Semi-Conductor Laboratory in Chandigarh.
The NavIC receiver developed by SAC, Ahmedabad, is meant for determining position by using the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). All these technologies will be tested in ‘piggyback’ mode - meaning they have little to do with the main mission, which is placing the Resourcesat 2-A in orbit.
The 1,235 kg satellite, a follow-up to Resourcesat 2, is meant to explore new application areas in land and water resources monitoring and management.
“Flight-tests alongside a mission are not routine. We accommodate such tests when we have space aboard the launch vehicle. PSLV C-36 carries only the Resourcesat 2-A,” a spokesperson of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), ISRO’s nodal agency for launch vehicles, said.