The PSLV rocket by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has placed all seven Singaporean satellites into the near-equatorial orbit (NEO) after its successful launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota. ISRO chief S. Somanath congratulated citizens and informed them that all seven satellites have been successfully placed in the right orbit. About 23 minutes after the lift-off, the rocket separated from satellites and after covering a distance of 535 km, deployed them into their intended orbits, said ISRO. The DS-SAR satellite was developed in partnership with the Government of Singapore's Defense Science and Technology Agency and ST Engineering. It will be launched into a near-equatorial orbit (NEO) at 5 degrees inclination at a 535 km altitude. Once deployed and operational, the DS-SAR satellite will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the government of Singapore, as per ISRO. Around 23 minutes after lift-off, the primary satellite got separated and it was followed by six other co-passenger satellites, which were deployed into the intended orbits sequentially, ISRO said. The co-passenger satellites are 1. VELOX-AM, a 23 kg technology demonstration microsatellite, 2. ARCADE Atmospheric Coupling and Dynamics Explorer (ARCADE), an experimental satellite, 3. SCOOB-II, a 3U nanosatellite flying a technology demonstrator payload, 4. NULloN by NuSpace, an advanced 3U nanosatellite enabling seamless Internet of Things connectivity in both urban and remote locations, 5. Galassia-2, a 3U nanosatellite that would be orbiting at low earth orbit, and 6. ORB-12 STRIDER, a satellite developed under an international collaboration, the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said. On the successful launch and separation of the satellites, ISRO posted on Twitter, "PSLV-C56/DS-SAR Mission: The mission is accomplished. PSLV-C56 vehicle launched all seven satellites precisely into their intended orbits. Thanks to @NSIL_India and Singapore, for the contract." Sunday's mission was undertaken by ISRO's commercial arm NewSpace India Limited. In Sunday's dedicated commercial mission, the primary payload being carried by ISRO's trusted workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is the DS-SAR Radar Imaging Earth Observation satellite, which has been developed under a partnership between DSTA (representing the Ggovernment of Singapore) and ST Engineering, Singapore. DS-SAR, a Radar Imaging Earth Observation satellite is the primary satellite for the mission. Once deployed and operational, it will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the government of Singapore. DS-SAR carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). This allows the DS-SAR to provide for all-weather day and night coverage and is capable of imaging at 1m resolution at full polarimetry. It is the 58th flight of PSLV and 17th of PSLV in core alone configuration. — Agencies
