Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 10 July 2024 successfully launched five British satellites into space from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta.
These satellites are three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites and two auxiliary satellites, viz., CBNT-1 and De-OrbitSail.
These all satellites, built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) and weighing 1440-kg, were launched aboard the 13th flight (PSLV-C28) of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
The three DMC3 satellites, each weighing 447 kg was placed into a 647 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) using the high-end version of PSLV (PSLV-XL). PSLV-C28 is the ninth flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration.
These international customer satellites are being launched as part of the arrangement entered into between DMC International Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK; and Antrix Corporation Limited (ANTRIX), the commercial arm of ISRO.
The Heaviest Commercial Launch
This was the heaviest commercial luggage carried by a PSLV rocket to date. It was also the biggest commercial launch of ANTRIX/ISRO. France’s SPOT 7 satellite that weighted 714 kg was the heaviest single foreign satellite carried by a PSLV rocket until now. It was launched on 30 June 2014.
40 satellites till now
Since 1999, India has launched 40 satellites (38 smaller and two bigger satellites) of foreign countries and the successful launch of the five British satellites took the tally to 45.
About British Satellites
DMC3 Constellation
- Comprises of three advanced mini-satellites DMC3-1, DMC3-2 and DMC3-3.
- Each DMC3 satellite weighing 447-kg is designed to address the need for simultaneous high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution optical Earth Observation.
- Major application areas include surveying the resources on earth and its environment, managing urban infrastructure and monitoring of disasters.
CBNT-1
- Weighing 91 kg, it is an optical Earth Observation technology demonstration micro satellite built by SSTL.
De-orbitSail
- The 7 kg from Surrey Space Centre is an experimental nano satellite for demonstration of large thin membrane sail and drag deorbiting using this sail.
