ISRO successfully launched 3 Singaporean commercial satellites  

Space science is a subject that intrigues many of you. Those of you who take deep interest in space are aware of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its achievements for sure. Recently, the commercial arm of this revered space agency, NewSpace India Limited, successfully launched three Singaporean satellites. The mission was conducted with the help of a workhorse rocket named Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C53 (PSLV-C53), launched from Sriharikota launchpad. Sriharikota is an island located off the coast of Bay of Bengal used by ISRO to launch satellites. It took about 18 minutes to place all three satellites into their orbits. Interestingly, as part of this mission, six in-orbit experiments were also installed by ISRO.  

A sneak peek into the satellites 
The three satellites that ISRO launched recently, are slated to offer a clearer view of the earth.  

Singaporean DS-EO satellite: This primary satellite is electro-optic and multi-spectral. What does that even mean? It is mainly deployed for earth observation, and helps in providing full-colour images. These images are in turn used for land classification, disaster-relief operations and other humanitarian needs.  

NeuSAR satellite: This is the first-ever small commercial satellite with the capacity of deriving images during any time of the day and under any weather condition. The first two satellites have been made by the Starec Initiative of the Republic of Korea. 

Scoob-1: This is the first satellite built by Nanyang Technical University’s Student Satellite Series. It is approximately the size of a shoe box. With its solar spectral sensor this satellite will observe the sun and its energy output. 

The six in-orbit experiments of ISRO 
Apart from the foreign satellites, the mission also carried out six in-orbit experiments in the rocket’s fourth stage. Two of these were developed by Indian space start-ups, Digantara and Dhurva Space.  

Okay, but why are these experiments important at all? Well, usually when the PSLV rocket reaches its fourth stage, it’s all spent up after having placed the satellites in orbit. At this point, it can only be used for minute in-orbit observation. But eventually, it starts to decay, and once it is free in the atmosphere, it is auto-destroyed. But this time, the space agency has figured out a simple way to make it last longer. How? All they did was adding some extra power to keep the rocket running while in orbit so that it can be used for these little experiments. Oh, before we forget, here’s another bit of information for you. These experiments will be overseen by one of ISRO’s arm IN-SPACe.  

ISRO’s brand-new satellite launch was one of its kind 
Sources cite that ISRO’s recent satellite launch was not only a success, but also cutting-edge. Okay, so what was so special about it? As it turns out, the space agency, for the first time, deployed a launch vehicle with a core-alone configuration during its flight. Sounds Hebrew, no? Wait, let us simplify it for you. It means that the vehicle only uses its main engines (four in this case) rather than the usual extra strap-on motors. According to media reports, this was one of the reasons why the rocket PSLV-C53 was able to place the three satellites in the allotted orbits of 570 km in lesser than expected duration, with an inclination of 10 degrees.