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Satnews Daily
March 26th, 2019

India to Launch Military Satellite and 28 Ride-Alongs for Orbit Insertion on April 1



Photo of a PSLV launch vehicle.

Image is courtesy of ISRO.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launching a domestically built, advanced military satellite, along with 28 additional satellites from international partners, on April 1 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

This will be the 47th mission of ISRO's C45 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and this launch is also aimed at demonstrating the PSLV's capability to place satellites into orbit.

The primary satellite will be injected into orbit at 749 km. and will be followed by two fourth stage restarts to achieve a 504 km. orbit where all customer satellites will be injected. Subsequently, the fourth stage will be restarted again to achieve a 485 km. orbit to serve as an orbital platform to carry out spaceborne experimentation.

In the fourth stage, the launcher will turn into a payload platform carrying three experimental payloads that include an automatic identification system (AIS) for maritime satellite applications capturing messages transmitted from ships. The second payload comprises an automatic packet repeating system (APRS) from India's AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) that will assist amateur radio operators in tracking and monitoring position data. The third experimental payload includes an advanced, retarding, potential analyzer for ionospheric studies (ARIS) from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), according to an ISRO document and a posting at the RIA Novosti infosite.