The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch India's EMISAT satellite along with 28 nano satellites on Monday.
The launch will help ISRO place the satellites and payloads in three different orbits which would be a first for it. The EMISAT satellite - in particular- will help with conducting electromagnetic measurement.
The launch will take place from Sriharikota and will mark the 47th flight for ISRO's third generation workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The four-stage PSLV-C45 will blast off from the second launch pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota. According to ISRO, a new variant of the rocket PSLV-QL equipped with four Strap-On motors in the first stage will be used for the launch. PSLV, also used in India's two key missions -- "Chandrayan" in 2008 and Mars Orbiter in 2013, is a reliable and versatile launch vehicle for ISRO with 39 consecutive successful flights till June, 2017 and five-in-a row from January 2018.
The rocket has encountered only two failures so far -- its maiden developmental flight ended unsuccessful way back in 1993. In September, 2017 the flight went off without any hitch but the IRNSS-1H Satellite could not be released into orbit after the PSLV-C39's heat shield failed to open on reaching the orbit.
On Monday, after injecting the 436 kg primary satellite EMISAT, intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement, at around 17 minutes from lift off in a 749 km orbit, they would restart the fourth stage again. During this initiative, all the other 28 customer satellites, totally weighing about 220 kgs, would be released by lowering the fourth state to around 504 kms orbit. Again, the fourth stage would be reignited and further lowered to 485 kms orbit to serve as an orbital platform for carrying out space borne experimentations for the first time in ISRO's history.
According to ISRO, this is the first time it has been envisaged to provide a micro-gravity environment for research organisations and academic institutes to perform experiments.
