THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is ‘a great recognition’ that foreign clients are vying to launch their satellites aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), nuclear scientist Dr Anil Kakodkar said on Thursday.
Inaugurating the Heat and Mass Transfer Conference at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here, the former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission congratulated the ISRO team for Wednesday’s successful PSLV C-29 mission which placed six Singapore satellites into the orbit. The C-29 commercial flight was the 31st consecutive successful mission of the PSLV.
“The PSLV has proven itself a great workhorse; shall we say ‘never fails’ launcher? It is a fantastic technological achievement,” Kakodkar said. The C-29, a ‘core-alone’ version of the PSLV, had lifted off from Sriharikota at 6 pm on Wednesday. A fully-commercial mission, it carried the 400 kg TeLEOS-1, the 123 kg VELOX C1, VELOX 2, Kent Ridge 1, Galassia and Athenoxat-1.
Engine Restart Test a Success, says ISRO
In a first for ISRO, the engine on the upper stage of the PSLV was shut off and restarted while placing the six Singapore satellites into orbit on Wednesday. The technique is useful when satellites have to be positioned in multiple orbits, S Somanath, director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, said. “It was tried for the first time. It was a success,” he said.