ISRO's PSLV-C55 successfully places two Singapore satellites into orbit

The primary payload was TeLEOS-2, which is a Synthetic Aperture Radar, which can provide all-weather, day and night coverage with 1-meter full-polarimetric resolution imaging

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched two customer satellites into orbit on Saturday, marking its third major launch of the year.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and entered a low inclination orbit in the eastward direction. This was the 57th flight for the 228-ton PSLV, which has established itself as a reliable and cost-effective option for satellite launches.

The two satellites on board were developed for the Singaporean government and weighed a combined 757 kilograms. The primary payload was TeLEOS-2, which is a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that can provide all-weather, day and night coverage with 1-meter full-polarimetric resolution imaging.

Moreover, the secondary payload, LUMELITE-4, was developed to test the High-Performance Space-borne VHF Data Exchange System (VDES). It is a 16-kilogram technology demonstration satellite co-developed by the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) of A*STAR and the Satellite Technology and Research Centre (STAR) of the National University of Singapore.

Apart from the two customer satellites, the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) was also part of the mission. The POEM is a repurposed fourth stage of the rocket that ISRO has developed as an experimental platform to conduct tests with non-separable payloads.

The POEM carries seven experimental payloads from ISRO, Bellatrix, Dhruva Space, and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, which have an operational lifetime of 30 days in space.

The mission, which lasted around 20 minutes from launch to deployment of the two customer satellites, went through without a glitch. The three stages of the PSLV separated with precision and on time, propelling the two satellites to an altitude of over 600 kilometres above Earth.

ISRO, which is preparing for bigger missions, such as Chandrayaan-3 and the maiden solar mission, Aditya L-1, is gaining momentum in the space sector. The organization is focused on making satellite launches affordable and reliable, and the PSLV has played a critical role in that.

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