ISRO completes launch rehearsal of PSLV-C51 mission
The Indian Space Research Organization on Thursday completed launch rehearsal of the PSLV-C51 mission slated for February 28. India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C51) is scheduled to launch Brazil’s Amazonia-1 as primary satellite and 18 co-passenger satellites from first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharkota, about 100 km from Chennai, at 10.24 am on Sunday.
Indian Space start-up Pixxel announced two days ago that due to “certain software issues” its first satellite ‘Anand’ would no longer be part of the payload on board the PSLV-C51 rocket.
PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 mission is the first dedicated PSLV commercial mission for NSIL, which is undertaking it under a commercial arrangement with Seattle, US-based satellite rideshare and mission management provider, Spaceflight Inc. The 18 co-passenger satellites are: four from IN- SPACe (three UNITYsats from consortium of three Indian academic institutes and one Satish Dhawan Sat from Space Kidz India) and 14 from NSIL.
IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) is an independent nodal agency under Department of Space (DoS) for allowing space activities and usage of DoS-owned facilities by NGPEs (Non-Government- Private-Entities) as well as to prioritise the launch manifest.