The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) ‘s PSLV-C56 rocket successfully launched the Singapore’s DS-SAR satellite and six co-passenger payloads from the first launch-pad of SDSC-SHAR in Sriharikota on 30 June 2023.
- PSLV-C56 is a Dedicated Commercial Mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) for ST Engineering, Singapore. DS-SAR is a Radar Imaging Earth Observation satellite and the primary payload for the mission.
- The mission also carried six co-passenger customer satellites from Singapore.
- Among the co-passenger payloads, VELOX-AM is a microsatellite developed by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, for technology demonstration of Additive Manufacturing (AM) payloads.
- ARCADE is a 27U microsatellite designed and built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, in collaboration with the INSPIRE consortium. ARCADE carries an iodine-based solid propellant propulsion module for orbit maintenance.
- The DS-SAR satellite is equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
- The SAR payload enables DS-SAR to provide high-quality imagery regardless of weather conditions, offering all-weather day and night coverage with 1m-resolution imaging and full polarimetry.
- PSLV-C56 is configured in its core-alone mode, similar to the previous C55 mission. All satellites were injected into a 535 km circular orbit with 5 degrees orbital inclination.
- After injecting all the satellites, the upper stage of the rocket would be placed in a lower orbit of 300 km to ensure reduced orbital life and address space debris mitigation problems.
- This was the 58th flight of PSLV and the 17th flight of PSLV in Core Alone configuration.
- After the successful launch, ISRO Chairman S. Somnath congratulated the customers sponsored by the Government of Singapore for their mission on board PSLV.
- Mission Director Biju SR mentioned that it is the 56th successful mission of PSLV, which successfully injected all seven customer satellites into their designated orbits.
Q.: What is the primary payload of ISRO’s PSLV-C56 rocket launched from Sriharikota on 30 June 2023?
A) DS-SAR satellite
B) VELOX-AM microsatellite
C) ARCADE microsatellite
D) ST Engineering payload
Answer: A) DS-SAR satellite
