ISRO announced on July 24 that the PSLV-C56 rocket carrying Singapore’s DS-SAR satellite will be launched on July 30.
The PSLV-C56 carrying the DS-SAR satellite and six co-passengers will be launched at 6:30 a.m. on July 30 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
ISRO reports that the PSLV-C56 is configured in core-alone mode, analogous to C55. It would launch the 360 kg DS-SAR satellite into a Near-equatorial Orbit (NEO) with an inclination of 5 degrees and an altitude of 535 kilometers.
The DS-SAR satellite is being developed by DSTA (representing the government of Singapore) and ST Engineering, according to the space agency.
Once deployed and operational, it will be utilized to support the satellite imagery needs of various Singaporean government agencies. ST Engineering will use it to provide commercial clients with imagery and geospatial services that are multi-modal and more responsive.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is carried by DS-SAR. This enables the DS-SAR to provide day and night coverage in all weather conditions and is capable of imaging with a 1m resolution and full polarimetry.
ISRO stated that New Space India Limited (NSIL) has acquired PSLV-C56 in order to launch the DS-SAR satellite.
On April 19, ISRO launched two Singaporean satellites, TeLEOS-2 and Lumelite-4, aboard the PSLV.
The missions’ co-passengers are VELOX-AM, a 23 kg technology demonstration microsatellite, ARCADE Atmospheric Coupling and Dynamics Explorer (ARCADE), an experimental satellite, SCOOB-II, a 3U nanosatellite carrying a technology demonstrator payload, and NuLIoN by NuSpace, an advanced 3U nanosatellite enabling seamless IoT connectivity in both urban and remote areas.
In low earth orbit will be Galassia-2, a 3U nanosatellite, and ORB-12 STRIDER, a satellite developed through an international collaboration.
The PSLV-C56 mission is ISRO’s first launch since the Chandrayaan-3 mission was successfully launched on July 14.
