NEW DELHI, India, April 24, 2007 - Satnews Daily - India has entered the highly competitive commercial satellite launch market with its first success: the launch of Italy’s Agile (Astro-rivelatore Gamma a Immagini LEggero) advanced gamma ray observation satellite for the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C8, took the 352kg Agile into orbit following launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota on India's eastern coast. The PSLV flew without the six standard solid rocket boosters attached to the base of the launcher, a first for PSLV. The launch was the 11th for PSLV since it debuted in 1993.
The mission was also the first commercial launch conducted by India's space program. Earlier PSLV missions launched small foreign satellites, but Agile was the first time a paying customer's satellite became the primary payload.
Agile was launched into a 550km circular orbit, inclined at an angle of 2.5 degrees to the equator. For the first time, PSLV launched a satellite into an equatorial circular orbit of 550 km.
Besides Agile, a 185kg advanced avionics module (AAM) was also placed in orbit. The module will test advanced launch vehicle avionics systems like mission computers, navigation and telemetry systems. ISRO has been using mission computers and navigation systems developed in the 1990s.
G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), said the launch was a historic event as ISRO had to use a stripped down version of its PSLV to meet the special requirements of the Italians, who wanted to put Agile into a different orbit.
He also said the successful test of the AMM gave ISRO confidence to use next generation systems as its main systems on future PSLV and GSLV launches.
Agile's scientific instruments are designed to detect high-energy emissions from the furthest reaches of the Universe. Agile carries a gamma ray imager, an X-ray detector, and a mini-calorimeter to hunt for transient events such as gamma ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the Universe
|
Set as homepage 
|
Add to favorites 
|
