Tomorrow on Sunday morning, Indian space agency ISRO will launch SSLV, a small-lift launch vehicle, on its maiden flight at 09:18 am (IST) from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

ISRO is inviting citizens to the Launch View Gallery at Satish Dhawan Space Centre to witness the launch. To witness the launch, click here for registration.

This new launch-vehicle is developed with the aim of launching small satellites commercially at drastically reduced price and higher launch rate as compared to PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle).

The ISRO-developed SSLV can launch upto 500 kg satellites to Low Earth Orbits on ‘launch-on-demand’ basis. SSLV's first mission called as "SSLV-D1" mission would launch EOS-02, a 135 kg Satellite, into low earth orbit of about 350 km to the equator, at an inclination of about 37 degrees.

SSLV is capable of launching Mini, Micro, or Nanosatellites (10 to 500 kg mass) to a 500 km planar orbit.

SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission | Image - ISRO

The mission also carries AzaadiSAT satellite, which is a 8U Cubesat weighing around 8 kg. It carries 75 different payloads each weighing around 50 grams and conducting femto-experiments. AzaadiSAT is a satellite mission with the ambitious vision to encourage Government school children (from economically weak backgrounds) with the basic understanding and knowledge of space and tutor them to build a small experiment and launch it to the edge of space through a “Balloon Satellite” or through an “Orbital Satellite".

Girl students from rural regions across the country were provided guidance to build these payloads. The payloads are integrated by the student team of Chennai-based Space Kidz India, which in 2019 mentored and trained Girl Students of Tanil Nadu's Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science Technology (PMIST), to launch Asia’s 1st satellite launch by girl students.

The payloads include a UHF-VHF Transponder working in ham radio frequency to enable voice and data transmission for amateur radio operators, a solid state PIN diode-based Radiation counter to measure the ionising radiation in its orbit, a long-range transponder and a selfie camera. The ground system developed by ‘Space Kidz India’ will be utilised for receiving the data from this satellite.

SSLV vs PSLV

• PSLV launch involves 600 officials while SSLV launch operations can be managed by a small team of about 6 people. 
• The launch readiness period of the SSLV is expected to be less than a week instead of months.
• SSLV can be assembled in 72 hours (3 days) to 15 Days – instead of the 60 days.
• SSLV can be assembled both vertically like the existing PSLV and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and horizontally like the decommissioned Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) and Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV).
• SSLV Specifications:
• Height: 34.0 meters
• Diameter: 2.0 meter
• Lift-Off Mass: 120 tonnes

In Asia’s 1st Satellite Launch by Girl Students, Tamil Nadu's PMIST Creates History

A team of 15 girl students of Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science Technology (PMIST), Vallam, in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, have launched a satellite contained in a helium-filled balloon. With this, it becomes Asia’s first Satellite launch by girl students.

The 'power-puff' girls were guided by the Dean (Academic) and Convener, SKI NSLV (Near Space Launch Vehicle) 9 Maniammaiyar SAT (name of the satellite), P.K.Srividhya, and were mentored and trained by the Chennai-based Space Kidz India, a Chennai-based organization dedicated in designing innovative concepts for students in the field of education. Earlier this year, Space Kidz was in news for making Kalamsat-V2, world's lightest satellite ever launched globally.

Designed and developed entirely by girls at PMIST, the satellite was designed to reach a height of 70,000 feet, 5,000 feet above the troposphere, using helium-filled balloon. The satellite they made was capable of sending live telemetry consisting of data and flight parameters to the control station at PMIST premises.

The satellite reached an altitude of 1,38,000 feet (approx 42km). The Space officially begins at an altitude of 100 KM above the Earth's surface.

https://t.co/otK6bILlrG

— PMIST Deemed to be University (@PMIST2) April 21, 2019

The telemetry contained call sign, packet number, latitude, altitude, velocity, heading, GPS timing, temperature data that would be processed by a micro-controller and transmitted to the base station throughout its flight, both ascending while being lifted up by the balloon and descending after coming under the influence of gravity due to explosion of the helium filled balloon at a height of 70000 feet above the ground level, according to university sources.

Further, the data recorded from the sensors and images captured by the camera would be stored in an in-built storage provision in the satellite. The signals received at the base station would help track and landing of the payload (satellite) for retrieving the same. The payload with a parachute, attached to the helium filled balloon was released into the atmosphere by around 11-30 a.m. from the PMIST premises.

Chief guest of the balloon satellite launching event, Mylswamy Annadurai, whos former Mission Director at ISRO, called upon universities to improve their standard so that students could excel in their professional career. Such events should be conducted at the school level in order to kindle the interest among the younger generation to pursue aerospace technology as their career, he observed.

PMIST Vice-Chancellor, S.Velusami said the institute was planning to establish a Centre for Excellence in Robotics soon. The launch of balloon satellite formed a part of the ongoing birth centenary of Maniammaiyar, he said.

Source - The Hindu

[All Pictures - pmu.edu]