Launch News Indian PSLV launch with IRNSS-1C, October 15/16, 2014

[Cosmic Penguin]

Hello! Just finished watching the ISS EVA currently in its closing stages? Here's another spaceflight-related event to watch out today!

And it's coming from India's ISRO, which just had what may be their best 12 months ever in terms of publicity, thanks to getting their spacecraft to Mars orbit and (finally) flying their notorious GSLV rocket successfully. Their next generation launcher is almost ready to get on a sub-orbital test flight next month.

Slightly less known, but also critical to India's spaceflight development, is the continuation of the deployment of their 7 satellite regional navigation system, the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS). IRNSS serves as an augmentation system by providing additional navigation signals in the L5 and S-bands to the existing American GPS and European Galileo satellite navigation systems across southern Asia, increasing position accuracy across the region for civilian and military use. Today marks the launch of the 3rd satellite, after IRNSS-1A which went into orbit last July and IRNSS-1B this April. Unlike the last two (which went into inclined geosynchronous orbits), this one will be put directly over the equator on a geostationary orbit slot (83 degrees East). More satellites are coming soon with IRNSS-1D flying by late December, after the GSLV Mark III test flight I have noted above.

Watch this space for more reports about India's spaceflight development! :tiphat:

Launch location:

Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad 13°43′58.8″ N, 80°14′6″ E

Launch dates and times:

[table="head"]{colsp=7}Launch times

Time Zone|Australia - Sydney/AEST|Moscow / MSK/ UTC+4|CEDT UTC+2|Universal / UTC|Washington / EDT|Delhi / UTC+5.5​

Launch time:|07:02:00|00:02:00|22:02:00|20:02:00|16:02:00|01:32:00

on:|Oct. 16, 2014|Oct. 16, 2014|Oct. 15, 2014|Oct. 15, 2014|Oct. 15, 2014|Oct. 16, 2014​

{colsp=7}[highlight]

[eventTimer]2014-10-15 20:02?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] IRNSS-1C Launch[/highlight]​

[/table]

Live Coverage

• http://webcast.gov.in/live - begins about 30 minutes before the launch
  (also note better links may come later before launch)

Payload, Launch Vehicle and Launch Timeline

Weather Forecast for Chennai, India on October 16, 2014 (1 a.m.)

Scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially early in the day. High 31C. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 60%.

Time|Temps|Dew Point|Relative Humidity|Precip|Snow|Cloud cover|Pressure|Wind|Weather
1 AM|27°C|24°C|89%|71%|0%|75%|1011 hPa|6 km/h ENE|

Thunderstorm

References
http://www.isro.org/pslv-c26/c26-status.aspx
http://www.isro.org/pslv-c26/pdf/pslv-c26-brochure.pdf
http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/irnss.htm
http://navipedia.org/index.php/IRNSS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Regional_Navigational_Satellite_System

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Here is a live webcast on Youtube:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc-DCCwrNjU"]IRNSS 1C satellite to be launched early on Oct 16 from Sriharikota.[/ame]

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Well, since there were no further posts till now, this shows the launch was flawless. :rofl:

Anyway IRNSS-1C is now on its way to start its service! Next up is the sub-orbital test flight of the next generation GSLV Mk-III rocket, currently scheduled for late November:

....followed by the launch of IRNSS-1D around the new year. :tiphat: