ISRO to launch GSAT 11 on Dec 5 from Guiana Space Centre

After the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) 31 satellites successfully soared into the skies, the space agency on Thursday announced to launch GSAT 11, the heaviest satellite made by India on December 5 at 2

ISRO chief K Sivan congratulated the team after the successful launch of HysIS (Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite) and other 30 satellites on PSLV-C43 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

He said, "We are happy to announce that the satellites launched successfully. It is mainly because of the ISRO team's hard work along with the excellent review mechanism which is in place. I want to congratulate all of them for this successful launch."

Talking about future plans, Sivan told media, "In the next mission, we are going to have another spectacular mission of GSAT 11, the heaviest satellite India has made. It is going to be launched from France's Guiana Space Centre on December 5 this year at 2:08 am."

"Subsequently, in December itself we are planning to have another excellent and long-awaited mission that GSLV is going to launch GSAT 7A. Like this, next year there is going to be another mission Chandrayaan II. For the success of any mission, the quality should be in the first row," he added.

GSAT-11, one of the largest and heaviest communication satellite ever is designed and manufactured by the ISRO.

The HysIS satellite will take photographs of planet Earth in multiple frequencies with a mission life of over five years. It can provide universal coverage and give valuable data on agriculture, forestry, geological environments, coastal zones, and inland waters.

The total weight of 30 co-passenger satellites is 261.5 kg. All these satellites will be placed in a 504 km orbit by PSLV-C43. These satellites have been commercially contracted for launch through Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO. The satellite is built around ISRO Mini Satellite-2 (IMS-2) bus and the mass of the spacecraft is about 380 kg.

The satellite will be placed in 636 km polar sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 97.957 degrees.

Apart from the HysIS, 30 other co-passenger satellites from eight countries were also launched. The countries are the US (23 satellites), Australia, Canada, Columbia, Finland, Malaysia, Netherlands and Spain (one satellite each).