Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch five British satellites at one go Friday July 10,2015

 

The Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch five British satellites at one go on Friday July 10,2015, in what is being billed as its biggest commercial launch so far.

The countdown has begun at the Sriharikota launch pad for the PSLV-C28 rocket, which will carry five satellites - load of over 1440 kg - for the UK.

Three of these satellites are earth observations satellites while the other two are technology demonstrators.

PSLV, in its 30th mission, would launch three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites, built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), United Kingdom.The three DMC3 satellites, each weighing 447 kg, will be launched into a 647 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) using the high-end version of PSLV-XL

PSLV C28, in addition to the three DMC3 satellites, will also carry two auxiliary satellites from UK -- CBNT-1, a technology demonstrator earth observation micro satellite built by SSTL, and De-OrbitSail, a technology demonstrator nano satellite built by Surrey Space Centre.

The observation satellites are primarily to be used for imaging and monitoring resources and environment, besides disaster management efforts.These satellites can image any target on the Earth's surface every day. Major application areas include surveying the resources on earth and its environment, managing urban infrastructure and monitoring disasters. The life of the mission is seven years.

Since 1999 India till date has launched 40 satellites of other countries and the successful launch of the five British satellites would take the tally to 45

The launch is scheduled for 9.58 pm.