PSLV-C55 successfully places 2 Singapore satellites into orbit

• ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C55) successfully placed two Singapore satellites into the intended orbit. 

• The satellites are part of the order secured by NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO. 

• At the end of a 22.5 hour countdown, the 44.4 metre tall rocket lifted off majestically from the first launch pad at the pre-fixed 2.19 pm at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

• This is the 57th flight of PSLV and 16th mission using the PSLV Core Alone configuration (PSLV-CA).

Highlights of the launch:

• PSLV-C55 mission has been adopted with the ‘integrate, transfer and launch’ concept using the PSLV integration facility at Sriharikota. 

• PSLV-C55 is a Dedicated Commercial PSLV mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), for the international satellite customer from Singapore.

• In this mission, TeLEOS-2 a Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite is the primary satellite and Lumelite-4, a technology demonstration nano-satellite is the co-passenger satellite.

• The TeLEOS-2 satellite is developed under a partnership between Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) representing the government of Singapore and ST Engineering. Once deployed and operational, it will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the government of Singapore.

• TeLEOS-2 carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload. TeLEOS-2 will be able to provide all-weather day and night coverage, and capable of imaging at one metre full-polarimetric resolution.

• The co-passenger satellite is Lumelite-4, co-developed by the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) and Satellite Technology and Research Centre (STAR) of the National University of Singapore. 

• It is an advanced 12U satellite developed for the technological  demonstration of the High-Performance Space-borne VHF data Exchange System (VDES). 

• Using the VDES communication payload developed by I2R and STAR’s scalable satellite bus platform, it aims to augment Singapore’s e-navigation maritime safety and benefit the global shipping community.

POEM-2

• PSLV-C55 mission has the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM-2) which will carry out in-orbit scientific experiments through non-separating payloads by using the spent PS4 stage as an orbital platform. The payloads belong to ISRO/Department of Space, Bellatrix, Dhruva Space, and Indian Institute of Astrophysics. 

• The payloads will be powered ON by a command, after all satellites are separated. The platform will have solar panel mounted around PS4 tank which will be deployed after confirmation of the stage achieving stabilisation.

• The deployment of the solar panels will be through a ground command. The platform will ensure that the deployed solar panel points towards the Sun optimally using appropriate sun pointing mode, which will increase the power generation capability of the platform. The power will be provided to payloads and avionic packages based on their requirements.

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