ISRO to launch 6 satellites from India; 500 kg earth observation spacecraft in the deal

Six Singapore satellites will be launched from India and they include a dedicated 500 kg earth observation spacecraft. The target for the launch is mid-December.

"The 500 kg dedicated satellite (TeLOS-1) will be a commercial launch for Singapore Technologies Electronics Ltd while five other smaller satellites are from Singapore universities," Indian space agency's commercial arm Antrix Corporation Chairman and Managing Director VS Hegde told IANS in Bengaluru.

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) will be using the most reliable polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) for launching the satellites into a near-equatorial orbit inclined 15 degrees lower to the

south of equator.

"As Singapore has a cloudy weather most of the year, the observatory satellite will be put in a sun-synchronous polar orbit 550km above the earth so that it could transmit signals round-the-clock, cloud

disturbances notwithstanding," VS Hegde, Antrix Corporation's chairman and managing director said in a seminar yesterday.

"The observatory spacecraft will be used disaster and environment monitoring, maritime safety, urban planning and homeland security," Hegde noted.

Of the six satellites, one is a 500 kg earth observation spacecraft that will be launched in December. "The 500 kg dedicated satellite (TeLOS-1) will be a commercial launch for Singapore Technologies Electronics Ltd while five other smaller satellites are from Singapore Universities," said Hedge.

"Of the 23 satellites we have commercially contracted for launches in the earth's lower orbit from nine developed and developing countries, 21 smaller, micro and nano type are from Algeria, Canada, Indonesia, Japan and the US for communication, remote sensing, observational activities," he added.

All six satellites will be put in a sun-synchronous polar orbit 550 km above the earth to ensure that the they work round the clock, transmitting uninterrupted signals.

India will also be launching another 900kg dedicated communication satellite Aisat for the German space agency (GLR) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh in 2016.

The demand for launching 1,500 satellites for various space and science applications from countries around the world is soaring. For this, India is increasing its capacity so that they can launch as many of them.