ISRO is all set to launch remote sensing Cartosat-2 satellite on June 23

After successful GSLV-Mk-III heavy rocket mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to PSLV-C38 carrying 712 Cartosat-2 series, a remote sensing satellite on Friday.

India's most trusted rocket PSLV will also take 30 co-passenger satellites weighing about 243 kg at lift-off into a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).ISRO sources told Deccan Herald on Tuesday evening that the rocket will be launched at country's spaceport Sriharikota 90 km from north Chennai.

"The rocket will take off from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) on June 23, a senior ISRO official here said.According to him, after getting clearance from Mission Readiness Review (MRR) committee and Launch Authorisation Board (LAB), the countdown of the PSLV-C38 launch mission will be announced.

This will be the seventeenth flight of PSLV in 'XL' configuration (with the use of solid strap-on motors).The primary Cartosat-2 series satellite is a remote sensing satellite, After its injection into the required orbit, the satellite will be brought to operational configuration following which it will begin providing regular remote sensing services using



its panchromatic and multispectral cameras.

The imagery sent by the satellite will be useful for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, utility management like road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps, change detection to bring out geographical and man-made features and various other land information system as well as geographical information system (GIS) applications.

The co-passenger satellites comprise 29 Nano satellites from 14 countries such as Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, United Kingdom, and the United States of America as well as one Nanosatellite 

from India. 

The total weight of all these satellites carried onboard PSLV-C38 is about 955 kg.

The 29 International customer Nano satellites are being launched as part of the commercial arrangements between Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), a Government of India company under Department of Space (DOS) and the commercial arm of ISRO and the International customers.