Indian third-generation launch vehicle, large enough to carry polar-orbiting earth resources satellites.
Version: PSLV C.
Five stage vehicle consisting of 6 x PSOM + 1 x S139 + 1 x PS2 + 1 x PS3 + 1 x PS4
LEO Payload: 3,700 kg (8,100 lb). Payload: 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). to a: geosynchronous transfer orbit trajectory. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 5,290.000 kN (1,189,230 lbf). Total Mass: 294,000 kg (648,000 lb). Core Diameter: 2.80 m (9.10 ft). Total Length: 44.40 m (145.60 ft).
- Stage0: 6 x PSLV-0. Gross Mass: 10,930 kg (24,090 lb). Empty Mass: 2,010 kg (4,430 lb). Motor: 1 x SLV-1. Thrust (vac): 502.600 kN (112,989 lbf). Isp: 262 sec. Burn time: 44 sec. Length: 9.99 m (32.77 ft). Diameter: 1.00 m (3.20 ft). Propellants: Solid.
- Stage1: 1 x PSLV-1. Gross Mass: 168,200 kg (370,800 lb). Empty Mass: 30,200 kg (66,500 lb). Motor: 1 x PSLV-1. Thrust (vac): 4,860.070 kN (1,092,587 lbf). Isp: 269 sec. Burn time: 105 sec. Length: 20.34 m (66.73 ft). Diameter: 2.80 m (9.10 ft). Propellants: Solid.
- Stage2: 1 x PSLV-2. Gross Mass: 45,800 kg (100,900 lb). Empty Mass: 5,300 kg (11,600 lb). Motor: 1 x Viking 4. Thrust (vac): 725.015 kN (162,990 lbf). Isp: 293 sec. Burn time: 158 sec. Length: 12.50 m (41.00 ft). Diameter: 2.80 m (9.10 ft). Propellants: N2O4/UDMH.
- Stage3: 1 x PSLV-3. Gross Mass: 8,400 kg (18,500 lb). Empty Mass: 1,100 kg (2,400 lb). Motor: 1 x PSLV-3. Thrust (vac): 328.709 kN (73,897 lbf). Isp: 294 sec. Burn time: 83 sec. Length: 3.54 m (11.61 ft). Diameter: 1.99 m (6.52 ft). Propellants: Solid.
- Stage4: 1 x PSLV-4. Gross Mass: 2,920 kg (6,430 lb). Empty Mass: 920 kg (2,020 lb). Motor: 2 x PSLV-4. Thrust (vac): 14.003 kN (3,148 lbf). Isp: 308 sec. Burn time: 425 sec. Length: 2.60 m (8.50 ft). Diameter: 1.34 m (4.39 ft). Propellants: N2O4/MMH.
PSLV Chronology
1993 September 20 - 05:12 GMT - Sriharikota PSLV. PSLV-D1 FAILURE: Software error caused vehicle to go off course. IRS-1E Spacecraft: IRS. Agency: ISRO.
1994 October 15 - 05:05 GMT - Sriharikota PSLV. PSLV-D2 IRS-P2 Mass: 870 kg (1,910 lb). Spacecraft: IRS. Agency: ISRO. Perigee: 818 km (508 mi). Apogee: 820 km (500 mi). Inclination: 98.67 deg. Period: 101.29 min. Remote sensing; sun-synch orbit.
1996 March 21 - 04:53 GMT - Sriharikota PSLV. PSLV-D3 IRS-P3 Mass: 930 kg (2,050 lb). Spacecraft: IRS. Agency: ISRO. Perigee: 819 km (508 mi). Apogee: 820 km (500 mi). Inclination: 98.50 deg. Period: 101.30 min. LEO
1997 September 29 - 04:47 GMT - Sriharikota PSLV. PSLV-C1 IRS-1D Spacecraft: IRS. Agency: ISRO. Perigee: 742 km (461 mi). Apogee: 823 km (511 mi). Inclination: 98.50 deg. Period: 100.50 min.
1999 May 26 - 06:22 GMT - Sriharikota PSLV. PSLV-C2 Kitsat-3 Spacecraft: Kitsat. Agency: KAIST. Perigee: 716 km (444 mi). Apogee: 738 km (458 mi). Inclination: 98.40 deg.
2001 October 22 - 04:53 GMT - Sriharikota PSLV. PSLV-C3 TES Mass: 1,108 kg (2,442 lb). Spacecraft: TES. Agency: ISRO (India). Perigee: 550 km (340 mi). Apogee: 579 km (359 mi). Inclination: 97.80 deg. Launch delayed from July 20. The PS4 upper stage deployed the 1108 kg Indian TES (Technology Experiment Satellite) into a sun-synchronous orbit at 05:09:10 GMT. TES was an imaging satellite equipped with cameras and instruments to test military reconnaissance satellite technology. It was probably based on the IRS remote sensing satellite and carried a one-meter resolution panchromatic camera. India decided to develop an independent indigenous reconnaissance satellite capability after the 1999 incursion of Pakistani troops into disputed territory in Kashmir caught it by surprise. TES was developed by ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization.
2002 September 12 - 10:25 GMT - Sriharikota PSLV. PSLV-C4 METSAT Mass: 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). Spacecraft: Metsat. Agency: ISRO (India). Perigee: 35,764 km (22,222 mi). Apogee: 35,809 km (22,250 mi). Inclination: 0.30 deg. Period: 1,436.10 min. METSAT 1 was an Indian (ISRO) meteorological, geostationary satellite that was launched by an upgraded, four-stage PSLV-C4 rocket. The satellite was manoeuvred from the transfer orbit to a geostationary postion at 37° E longitude on September 16, and then was parked at 74° E longitude on September 24. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 74.00E drifting at 0.007W degrees per day.
2003 October 17 - 04:54 GMT - Sriharikota PSLV. PSLV-C5 ResourceSat 1 (IRS-P6) Mass: 1,360 kg (2,990 lb). Spacecraft: IRS. Agency: Indian Space Research Organisation. Perigee: 813 km (505 mi). Apogee: 836 km (519 mi). Inclination: 98.80 deg. Period: 101.40 min. The satellite was to replace IRS-1C and IRS-1D, and carried three cameras for remote sensing, the highest resolution one being the 6-meter LISS-4 imager. The sensors were designed for agricultural remote sensing applications.
2005 May 5 - 04:44 GMT - Sriharikota SLP. PSLV-C6 CartoSat 1 Mass: 1,560 kg (3,430 lb). Spacecraft: IRS. Agency: ISRO. Perigee: 620 km (380 mi). Apogee: 623 km (387 mi). Inclination: 97.90 deg. Period: 97.10 min. First launch from new second PSLV pad at Sriharikota. Eleventh satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing satellite series, Cartosat-1 carried two panchromatic cameras, one fore-mounted with a tilt of +26 deg and the other aft-mounted with a tilt of -5 deg from the yaw axis. Together they provided black-and-white stereoscopic pictures in the visible region ( 0.50-0.85 micron) of the electromagnetic spectrum with a spatial resolution of 2.5 metre. The cameras covered a swath of 30 km and a solid state memory recorded up to 120 GB of images for downloading when the satellite passed over the Spacecraft Control Centre at Bangalore or ISTRAC stations at Lucknow, Mauritius, Bears Lake in Russia and Biak in Indonesia. Cartosat 1's sun-synchronous orbit crossed the equator at a local time of 10:30. The spacecraft was 3-axis stabilised using reaction wheels, magnetic torquers and hydrazine thrusters. 1100 W of eectrical power was provided by a 5 sq m solar array and two 24 Ah Ni-Cd batteries. Mission life was 5 years. Launch delayed from February, late April. The multispectral satellite had a 2.5-meter resolution camera.
2007 January 10 - 04:16 GMT - Sriharikota PSLV. PSLV-C7 SRE-1 Mass: 550 kg (1,210 lb). Spacecraft: SRE. Perigee: 620 km (380 mi). Apogee: 643 km (399 mi). Inclination: 97.90 deg. Period: 97.40 min. India's Space Recovery Experiment-1 India's SRE-1 first lowered to its orbit to 485 km x 643 km on January 20.
A 10-minute deorbit burn began at 03:30 GMT on January 22, with re-entry beginning at 04:07 and a successful
splashdown at 04:16 GMT in the Bay of Bengal near 13.3 N / 81.4E. The capsule was successfully recovered by the Indian Navy. The capsule returned two microgravity payloads as well as proving basic technologies for any eventual Indian manned space program. It was also announced that the capsule could be used to orbit further microgravity payloads at low cost to customers.
2007 April 23 - 10:00 GMT - Sriharikota SLP. PSLV-CA PSLV-C8 AGILE Mass: 352 kg (776 lb). Spacecraft: AGILE. Agency: ASI. Perigee: 523 km (324 mi). Apogee: 553 km (343 mi). Inclination: 2.50 deg. Period: 95.40 min. The PSLV-C8 launch vehicle flew for the first time in a light configuration with
no strap-on motors and a Dual Launch Adapter. The Italian gamma-ray observatory satellite (Astrorivelatore Gamma ad Imagini Leggero) carried the GRID 0.3-200 MeV wide-field gamma ray camera and the Super-AGILE 15-45 keV detector hard X-ray detector.
2008 January 21 - Tecsar Mass: 260 kg (570 lb). Spacecraft: Tecsar. Perigee: 405 km (251 mi). Apogee: 580 km (360 mi). Inclination: 41.00 deg. Period: 94.50 min. Israeli military radar/optical surveillance satellite using synthetic aperture X-band radar, with estimated 10 cm radar and 1 m optical ground resolution.
2008 April 28 - 03:53 GMT - Sriharikota . Cartosat 2A Spacecraft: IRS. Perigee: 623 km (387 mi). Apogee: 645 km (400 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg. Period: 97.40 min. Primary payload, an imaging satellite with a spatial resolution of better than one metre and a swath of 9.6 km. Data from the satellite was to be used for detailed mapping.
Bibliography:- McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
- JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
- Isakowitz, Steven J,, International Reference to Space Launch Systems Second Edition, AIAA, Washington DC, 1991 (succeeded by 2000 edition).
- Wilson, Andrew, editor,, Jane's/Interavia Space Directory, Jane's Information Group, Coulsdon, Surrey, 1992 et al.
- McDowell, Jonathan, Launch Log, October 1998. Web Address when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/log/launch.html.
- National Space Science Center Planetary Page, As of 19 February 1999.. Web Address when accessed: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetary_home.html.
- Isakowitz, Steven J, Hopkins, Joshua B, and Hopkins, Joseph P, International Reference to Space Launch Systems, AIAA, Washington DC, 2004.
- NASA/GSFC Orbital Information Group Website, Web Address when accessed: http://oig1.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
- Space-Launcher.com, Orbital Report News Agency. Web Address when accessed: http://www.orbireport.com/Log.html.
