Cosmic Penguin
Geek Penguin in GTO
Can't catch your breath with all those good and bad news in the spaceflight world recently, especially with Pluto now just 4 days away? Well, how about catching your breath while watching yet another satellite launch?
Today's launch comes from the Indians, who are making their second launch of the year with an all-Britain satellite combo on board the 30th Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to fly.
All 5 satellites on board are related to the UK's premier satellite producer Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL). The 3 main satellites on board, Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC)-3, are SSTL's newest products of their popular Earth observation satellite product line. These 3 400 kg satellites will join SSTL's DMC constellation that has seen 8 satellites in operation by SSTL's spinoff company DMC International Imaging (the customer for DMC3) with China, Spain, Turkey, Algeria and Nigeria, providing 1 meter class resolution Earth images to the commercial market and (as its name shows) provides quicker response to worldwide disasters. Interestingly, a Chinese company has struck a contract to lease these 3 satellites for the next 7 years - not a common thing to do by any Chinese company!
Also on board are 2 technology demonstration satellites built by SSTL and the University of Surrey. CBNT-1 will demonstrate new Earth imaging techniques, while the multi-national DeorbitSail is yet another solar sail flying into orbit in recent months, demonstrating de-orbiting small satellites with a 4 meter size solar sail.
This is ISRO's 5th launch with all payloads flying under a commercial contract. With their spaceflight ambitions growing and a (relatively) very cheap labour base, maybe we will see more of their presence in the access to space market in future years. :tiphat:
Launch location:
Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad 13° 43′ 58.8″ N, 80° 14′ 6″ E
Launch dates and times:
Time Zone|Australia - Sydney/AEST UTC+10|Delhi / UTC+5.5
|
Moscow / MSK/ UTC+3
|
CEDT UTC+2
|
Universal / UTC
|
Washington / EDT
Launch time:|03:28:00|21:58:00|19:28:00|18:28:00|16:28:00|12:28:00
on:|Jul. 11, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015
on:|Jul. 11, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015|Jul. 10, 2015
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[eventTimer]2015-07-10 16:28:00?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] UK-DMC3 Launch[/highlight]
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 July 10, 2015 (10 p.m.)
Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 60%.
10 PM|28°C|26°C|86%|0%|0%|79%|1005 hPa|13 km/h SW|
References
http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c28-dmc3-mission/
http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c28-dmc3-mission/pslv-c28-dmc-3-brochure
http://www.dmcii.com/
http://www.sstl.co.uk/Missions/DMC3
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ssc/research/space_vehicle_control/deorbitsail/index.htm
