The PSLV-C55 mission will launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. It will launch to low Earth orbit on April 22. PSLV will launch with two big customer satellites

The PSLV-C55 mission will lift off with two big satellites from Sriharikota. The spacecraft belong to Singapore.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is geared up to conduct the third big launch of the year as it lifts off the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The rocket, on its C-55 mission, will launch with two big customer satellites and an in-house payload that will conduct experiments in space.

The commercial mission being conducted under a contract by the New Space India Limited (NSIL) will launch two Singaporean satellites into an Eastward low-inclination orbit. Meanwhile, the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) will be used as an orbital platform to carry out scientific experiments through non-separating payloads.

The PSLV-C55 mission will launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota to low Earth orbit on April 22. The mission is scheduled to lift off at 2:19 pm IST.

WHAT ALL IS ISRO LAUNCHING WITH PSLV-C55?

The PSLV-C55 mission will lift off with two big satellites with the TeLEOS-2, a Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite as the primary mission and Lumelite-4 a technology demonstration nano-satellite, will be a co-passenger satellite. The two satellites combined weigh around 757 kilograms.

The TeLEOS-2 satellite was developed under a partnership between DSTA (representing the Government of Singapore) and ST Engineering and will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the Government of Singapore, ISRO's mission brochure read.

The spacecraft will provide imagery that could be used for hotspot monitoring and haze management, air crash search and rescue operations, and much more. It will provide all-weather day and night coverage and is capable of imaging at 1m full-polarimetric resolution.

LUMELITE-4, on the other hand, has also been developed by Singapore and is an advanced 12U satellite designed for the technology demonstration of the High-Performance Space-borne VHF Data Exchange System (VDES). "It aims to augment Singapore’s e-navigation, maritime safety and benefit the global shipping community," ISRO said in a brief.

Meanwhile, the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) will be used to carry out scientific experiments through non-separating payloads. The payloads for this module have been developed by ISRO, Bellatrix, Dhruva Space, and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.