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Countdown begins as ISRO gets set to launch 100th satellite today

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Jan 12, 2018, 02:48 AM IST
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Representative Image. Photograph:(ANI)


India is all set to launch its 100th satellite 'Cartosat-2 Series' from Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota today.

The launch is set for 9:28am on Friday at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. 

The final 28-hour countdown of the PSLV-C40 mission began at 5:29am on Thursday after getting a nod from ISRO's Mission Readiness Review Committee and Launch Authorization Board on Wednesday.

This mission is said to be the longest - comprising of four stages of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), at two hours, 21 minutes and 62 seconds. 

Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh said, "It is a historic day for us and a great headway for India."

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arranged a brainstorming session between space scientists and officials from different government departments so that they could understand the diverse applications of space technology in transforming India," he added.

The 'Cartosat-2 Series' satellite and 29 others will be inserted into a 505-kilometre sun-synchronous orbit after about seventeen and a half minutes from liftoff.

Later, the payload Microsat developed by the ISRO will be taken down to a lower orbit at 359-kilometre height and launched using the 'multiple engine switch-on' method.

This launch will also see ISRO taking a shot at a two-orbit feat, which can be tricky, for the second time. 

The 100kg Indian microsatellite will show new technology which will allow image capturing at night.

Its uses include monitoring urban and rural applications, coastal land use regulation, managing services like road networks and water distribution, detecting changes in geographical features and creation of land use maps.

This is also the first mission after the previous one failed due to heat shield malfunction in August 31, 2017.