ISRO launches satellite to boost military surveillance; 30 foreign probes also put into space

New Delhi: ISRO launched India's earth observation satellite HysIS and 30 co-passenger satellites, including 23 from the US today.

The space agency said the 45th flight of PSLV will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh about 110 km from Chennai.

Andhra Pradesh: ISRO launches HysIS and 30 other satelites on PSLV-C43 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. pic.twitter.com/H8ci9RRz5B

— ANI (@ANI)

The Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS), an earth observation satellite developed by ISRO, is the primary satellite of the PSLV-C43 mission.

In another first for Isro, satellites from Australia, Colombia, Malaysia and Spain are being flown for the first time by an Indian rocket.

ISRO launches HysIS and 30 other satellites on PSLV-C43 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. pic.twitter.com/ZtI295a4cy

— ANI (@ANI)

HySIS weighing 380kg will be used for a range of application like agriculture, forestry, soil survey, geology, coastal zones, inland water studies, environmental studies and detection of pollution from industries. According to a Times of India report, being an earth observation satellite, it will also be used by the military for surveillance purposes.

The primary goal of HysIS, whose mission life is five years, is to study the earth's surface in visible near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

PSLVC43 is a four-stage rocket, with alternating liquid and solid stages. This PSLV variant is the lightest version  of the PSLV rocket.

Apart from HysIS, the satellite will also include 1 micro and 29 nanosatellites from eight different countries. All these satellites have been commercially contracted for launch through ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited. All the satellites would be placed in a 504 km orbit by PSLV-C43, the space agency said

PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages. PSLV-C43, which is the 45th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), is the 'Core Alone' version of PSLV. It is the lightest version of the launch vehicle.

This will be ISRO's second launch in the month. The space agency had launched its latest communication satellite GSAT-29 on board GSLV MkIII-D2 on November 14.

With agency inputs

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