Prime Minister to attend launching of PSLV-C23

Ahmedabad, 20 June, 2014

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the launching of PSLV-C23 rocket at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota on June 30.

PSLV-C23 will carry a 714 kg French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7 as the main payload. Also, the 14 kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) & NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) of Canada each weighing 15 kg, and the 7 kg VELOX-1 of Singapore are being carried as co-passengers. These five satellites are being launched under commercial arrangements that ANTRIX has entered with the respective foreign agencies.

All the five satellites have been integrated with PSLV-C23 and the final phase of checks is progressing. The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) Committee and the Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) met on June 27, 2014 to review the progress of prelaunch activities. After the clearance from LAB, the 49 hour count down for the mission has been commenced today morning.

The rocket will blast off on June 30, 2014 at 09:52 hrs (IST) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier, ISRO had planned for 9:49am as the launch time, but it has now rescheduled to 9.52am, a three-minute delay, in view of space debris getting in the way of the launch vehicle.

Meanwhile, security in Sriharikota and Chennai is hightened ahead of Modi’s visit. According to ISRO, the prime minister will arrive Sriharikota Sunday afternoon and will stay over to witness the rocket launch the next day.

As per sources, PM Narendra Modi will reach Chennai airport at 3.55pm on Sunday and will take an Air Force chopper to Sriharikota. He will return to Chennai by helicopter at 11.35am on Monday and take a special flight back to Delhi at 11.40am.

Till date, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had launched 25 consecutive successful launches of PSLV.

It may be noted that Modi’s presence signifies India’s commitment to space and other related missile technologies as top priority for the country.

What’s happening on ground

Jun 28, 2014

-Propellant filling operations of Fourth Stage (PS4) of PSLV-C23 has commenced at 11:15 hrs (IST)

-49 hours countdown of PSLV-C23 Mission started at 08:52 hours IST today (Jun 28, 2014) at Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC), Shriharikota, India

Jun 27, 2014

-The 49 hour Countdown will commence at 08:52 hrs (IST) on Jun 28, 2014

-Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) for PSLV – C23 mission has cleared the launch on Jun 30, 2014 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota

-PSLV-C23 to Launch the French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7 and Four co-passenger satellites from Canada, Germany and Singapore on Jun 30, 2014 at 09:52 hrs (IST) from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The three minutes delay from the earlier announced lift-off time is owing to the probability of space debris gettting in the way of the launch vehicle.

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