(Image source from: www.isro.gov.in)
According to ISRO Website, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch a students' satellite Kalamsat and an imaging satellite Microsat-R from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota today. The national space agency's workhorse rocket, PSLV C44, carrying the satellites, is scheduled for liftoff at 11:27 pm. The countdown for the launch began at 7:37pm last evening and is progressing smoothly.
Twitter handle of ISRO said,
#ISROMissions#PSLVC44 sits pretty on the launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota under the watchful eyes of the #Moon, ahead of its midnight launch tomorrow (Jan 24), carrying #Kalamsat and #MicrosatR.
— ISRO (@isro) 23 January 2019
Updates will continue. pic.twitter.com/DA1fatQA5U
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 46th flight, will launch the Kalamsat and Microsat-R from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
PSLV is a four stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages. The PSLV with 2 strap-on configuration has been identified for this mission and the configuration is designated as PSLV-DL. PSLV-C44 is the first mission of PSLV-DL and is a new variant of PSLV.
In PSLV-C44, the fourth stage (PS4) of the vehicle will be moved to higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments.
Kalamsat, a student payload will be the first to use PS4 as orbital platform.
PSLV-C44 will also carry Microsat-R, an imaging satellite
Kalamsat is a payload developed by students and Chennai based Space Kidz India for the first time.
-Saikumar
