Live Watch PSLV-C20 launch online.The STRaND-1 is the world’s first ‘smart phone satellite’ carrying Google Nexus One phone running on Android operating system
CHENNAI, INDIA: The fuelling of the second stage of the Indian rocket that would sling seven satellites into space February 25 has been completed and the countdown for the launch is progressing smoothly, according to the ISRO website.
President Pranab Mukherjee is slated to witness the launch of the first of the 10 space missions planned by the ISRO in 2013. The 44.4-metre tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C20 (PSLV-C20) rocket, with a lift-off weight of 229.7 tonnes, will sling into orbit seven satellites – one Indo-French and six foreign satellites.
The PSLV-C20 rocket will carry the 407-kg Indo-French satellite SARAL (Satellite with ARGOS and ALTIKA) as the primary luggage and six other satellites as piggy-back. The SARAL will study the sea surface heights and the data generated will be shared by both the countries.
According to ISRO, the SARAL satellite is the first under the Indian mini-satellite bus-series 2 configured for 400 kg satellites. The Indian space agency states this satellite frame is envisaged to be the workhorse for different types of operational missions in the coming years.
The other six satellites the PSLV-C20 would carry are two Canadian satellite NEOSSat (Near Earth Object Space Surveillance Satellite), the world’s first space telescope designed by Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and Sapphire satellite built by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), BRITE and UniBRITE (both Austria), STRaND-1 (Britain) and AAUSAT (Denmark).
The STRaND-1 (Surrey Training, Research, and Nanosatellite Demonstrator) is the world’s first ‘smart phone satellite’ carrying Google Nexus One phone running on Android operating system. The phone will run several applications, including collection of data and take pictures of the earth with its camera.
Once all the satellites’ own operating systems have been checked out, key system functions will be transferred to the phone’s components to take control and operate the satellite, said SSTL on its website.
The launch of the PSLV C20 – SARAL Mission – is being streamed live on ISRO’s website. ”Live Telecast from Doordarshan and Webcast of Launch will be available on Feb 25, 2013 from 17:30 hours (IST) onwards,” says a message on the ISRO website. To watch the SARAL Mission live
