Unfazed by the failure of navigation satellite IRNSS-1H, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now planning to launch a remote sensing satellite of Cartosat-2 series along with 30 nano satellites of foreign countries by mid-December.
“Isro will be busy in launching a series of satellites from December onwards. We are targeting to launch Cartosat along with 30 nano satellites of foreign countries in the second half of December,” Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) director Dr K Sivan was quoted by Times of India as saying.
Earlier this month, an ISRO official told news agency PTI that the space agency is getting ready for the Cartosat-2 series satellite mission in mid-December from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre or Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR).
Dr Sivan said that the replacement satellite for IRNSS-1A will be launched soon after the launch of the remote sensing satellite, adding that “both these launches will be from the first launchpad at Sriharikota as the second launchpad will be busy in launching three GSLV rockets, including the Chandrayaan-2 mission in March”.
“If for any reason, Cartosat launch is delayed in December, it will also stall the launch of replacement satellite IRNSS-1I as both these launches have been planned from the first launchpad,” he said.
IRNSS-1A – the first navigation satellite whose three atomic clocks, meant to provide precise locational data – had stopped working last year.
In June, India's workhorse launch vehicle launched the second one along with 30 co-passenger satellites- the 39th consecutively successful mission of PSLV. But a PSLV-C39 flight carrying IRNSS-1H navigation satellite on August 31 was unsuccessful, in what is seen as a setback to ISRO.
