ISRO to launch six Singapore satellites tomorrow

Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will launch six Singapore satellites from Sriharikota tomorrow.

The six satellites riding piggyback on PSLV-C29, to be launched from the first launch pad, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in the spaceport of Sriharikota is scheduled for lift off at 6:00 pm tomorrow.

According to ISRO, the 59-hour-countdown for the PSLV-C29/TeLEOS-1 Mission began at 7:00 am yesterday and was progressing normally.

The Mission Readiness Review committee and Launch Authorisation Board have cleared the countdown.

ISRO said the filling of propellant in PS4 stage (fourth stage) was completed yesterday.

ISRO would launch the six satellites into a 550 kilometre circular orbit inclined at 15 degrees to the equator. It is using its trusted workhorse PSLV which is on its 32nd flight in 'core-alone' configuration without the use of solid strap-on motors.

Of the six satellites, TeLEOS-1 is the primary satellite weighing 400 kilograms whereas the other five satellites include two micro-satellites and three nano-satellites.

TeLEOS-1 is the first Singapore commercial earth observation satellite. It would be launched into a low Earth orbit for remote sensing applications.

Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO, has provided launch services in PSLV for 51 customer satellites from 20 countries so far.