Sep 23 2009
From The Space Library
ISRO launched seven satellites, placing all seven in orbit within a period of 20 minutes, to mark ISRO’s first successful mission following the abrupt end of the Chandrayaan-1 project. The seven satellites, including ISRO’s Oceansat 2, launched from Sriharikota at 6:21 (UT), aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C14, a 44.4-meter (145.67-foot) four-stage launch vehicle. The 960-kilogram (2,116-pound) Oceansat 2 carried three instruments. One of these was the Ocean Color Monitor (OCM), an eight-band multispectral camera, designed to capture data in the visible and near-infrared spectrum. The OCM would observe algae, fish populations, sediment distribution, and water pollution. Another instrument was the Ku-band Scatterometer, designed to operate at 13.52 gigahertz, covering a swath of 1,400 kilometers (870 miles). It would measure near-surface wind vectors over the ocean, for use in forecasting weather. The third instrument was the Italian-designed Radio Occultation Sounder for the Atmosphere (ROSA), which would observe distortions in GPS signals passing through the upper atmosphere. ROSA would build temperature and humidity profiles, determining the electron density in the ionosphere. The rocket also carried six nano satellites: two German Rubin satellites; Beesat, of the Technical University Berlin; UWE 2, of the University of Würzburg in Germany; ITU pSAT, of Istanbul Technical University in Turkey; and SwissCube 1, of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 671; Associated Press, “ISRO Launched 7 Satellites in 20 Minutes,” 23 September 2009.
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