Chennai:
The countdown for the Monday midnight launch of an Indian navigation satellite is progressing smoothly with the liquid fuel filling for the fourth stage engine getting completed, an official said today.
"Yesterday (Saturday) evening, the filling of the liquid fuel in the fourth stage was completed and the fuel for the second stage will be filled during the countdown. In addition, pressurisation of the stages with gases will also be done," a senior official at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
The 64.5-hour countdown began at 7:11 am on Saturday.
The 44-metre-tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL), weighing 320 tonnes, is powered by solid and liquid propellants alternatively.
The PSLV will blast off from Sriharikota, around 80 km from Chennai, on Monday night around 11.41 pm carrying India's first navigational satellite - the 1,425 kg IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System)-1A.
"We have had late evening and early morning launches. But this is the first time ISRO is launching a rocket around midnight," the ISRO official said.
The official said the launch time has been fixed taking into account the orbit and inclination at which the satellite will be injected into the space.
According to him, the weather at Sriharikota is fine and it may not pose any hindrance for the rocket launch.
He said ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan is expected to have a brief meeting with the media at the rocket port post-launch which will be around 12.45 am on Tuesday.
Around 20 minutes into the launch, the rocket PSLV-XL will eject the navigational satellite at an altitude of 501 km.
The satellite is intended to provide terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation services and help in disaster and fleet management.
The satellite with a life span of around 10 years is one of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space segment - a regional navigational system developed by India designed to provide accurate position information service to users within the country and up to 1,500 km from the nation's boundary line, ISRO said.
The IRNSS will provide two types of services - standard positioning service and restricted service. The former is provided to all users and the latter is an encrypted service for authorised users.
Following the Monday launch, ISRO is planning to launch its communication satellite G-Sat 14 using a heavier rocket - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) - powered by a domestic cryogenic engine sometime in August this year.
Preparatory work for the G-Sat 14 launch is going ahead at the rocket launch pad in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
It will be followed by the mission to Mars later this year. The launch of one more remote sensing satellite is also being planned before the end of the year.
"Yesterday (Saturday) evening, the filling of the liquid fuel in the fourth stage was completed and the fuel for the second stage will be filled during the countdown. In addition, pressurisation of the stages with gases will also be done," a senior official at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
The 64.5-hour countdown began at 7:11 am on Saturday.
The 44-metre-tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL), weighing 320 tonnes, is powered by solid and liquid propellants alternatively.
The PSLV will blast off from Sriharikota, around 80 km from Chennai, on Monday night around 11.41 pm carrying India's first navigational satellite - the 1,425 kg IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System)-1A.
"We have had late evening and early morning launches. But this is the first time ISRO is launching a rocket around midnight," the ISRO official said.
The official said the launch time has been fixed taking into account the orbit and inclination at which the satellite will be injected into the space.
According to him, the weather at Sriharikota is fine and it may not pose any hindrance for the rocket launch.
He said ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan is expected to have a brief meeting with the media at the rocket port post-launch which will be around 12.45 am on Tuesday.
Around 20 minutes into the launch, the rocket PSLV-XL will eject the navigational satellite at an altitude of 501 km.
The satellite is intended to provide terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation services and help in disaster and fleet management.
The satellite with a life span of around 10 years is one of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space segment - a regional navigational system developed by India designed to provide accurate position information service to users within the country and up to 1,500 km from the nation's boundary line, ISRO said.
The IRNSS will provide two types of services - standard positioning service and restricted service. The former is provided to all users and the latter is an encrypted service for authorised users.
Following the Monday launch, ISRO is planning to launch its communication satellite G-Sat 14 using a heavier rocket - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) - powered by a domestic cryogenic engine sometime in August this year.
Preparatory work for the G-Sat 14 launch is going ahead at the rocket launch pad in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
It will be followed by the mission to Mars later this year. The launch of one more remote sensing satellite is also being planned before the end of the year.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
