(GSLV) mission scheduled in January to be the 100th launch from the Sriharikota space centre
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath on Monday revealed that the country’s space agency is gearing up to achieve an important milestone, with the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) mission scheduled in January to be the 100th launch from the Sriharikota space centre. The 99th launch from Sriharikota was the PSLV-C60 mission on Monday, which successfully placed two spacecraft into a circular orbit for space docking tests.
“We all have seen the spectacular launch and the launch of the Spadex (Space Docking Experiment) rocket and for us it is the 99th launch of a vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. So, we are going for the 100th launch early next year,” Somanath told the press after the launch of the PSLV-C60 mission. The SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstrator mission for performing in-space docking using two small spacecraft launched by PSLV. According to the space agency, the primary objective of the mission is to develop the technology needed to achieve in-space docking and undocking using two small spacecraft.
Somanath expressed hope
That many more space docking experiments will be carried out by scientists in the coming days. “This is indeed a landmark mission that will reform India’s space sector and expand space activities. There will be many more Spadex varieties in the coming days, including the complex mission of the docking system,” the ISRO chief said optimistic about the coming year On the future launches planned by ISRO, S Somanath expressed hope that the space agency will have multiple missions in the coming year of 2025. “In 2025, we will launch several missions, starting with the launch of (navigation satellite) NVS-02 by GSLV in January. ISRO successfully placed a navigation satellite on the GSLV-F12/NVS-01 rocket in May 2023. The GSLV rocket successfully deployed the NVS-01 navigation satellite weighing about 2,232 kg into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
NVS-01 was the first of the second-generation satellites envisaged for navigation with the Indian Constellation (NavIC) services. Referring to the change in the schedule of the PSLV-C60 rocket from 9.58 pm to 10 pm on December 30, Somnath said scientists carry out a combination study to check if the satellite in the orbit comes very close to another satellite while travelling in the same orbit. “If you find any proximity (between the satellites), we have to move the existing satellite a little further. Either we delay it (launch) or rush it, so that it does not arise in a state of proximity. Scientists have chosen the time for the launch and the optimal time to be travelled in the intended orbit to be far away from other satellites, he said.
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