Countdown begins for ISRO to launch heaviest commercial mission today

ISRO is all set to launch its first heaviest commercial space mission of the year today.

Five big British satellites will be sent to space in one go on 10 July. The satellites will take off from Sriharikota launch pad. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its thirtieth flight (PSLV-C28), will launch three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), United Kingdom (UK).

Rs 140 crore space mission

According to ISRO, this is a multi-step launch process. These three DMC3 satellites will be launched into a 647 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) today at 9:58 pm, using the high-end version of PSLV (PSLV-XL) from (SDSC-SHAR), the spaceport of India.

The entire mission costs Rs 140 crore.

Heaviest commercial space mission

The first and third stages are powered by solid fuel. While the fourth stage is powered by liquid fuel which will be filled during the countdown. With the overall lift-off mass of the five satellites amounting to about 1440 kg, this mission becomes the heaviest commercial mission ever undertaken by Antrix/ISRO.