94. English Essay Example on: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is an expendable launch system developed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into sun synchronous orbits, a service that was, until the advent of the PSLV, commercially available only from Russia. PSLV can also launch small size satellites into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).As of 2014, the PSLV has launched 71 spacecraft (31 Indian and 40 foreign satellites) into a variety of orbits. Some notable payloads launched by PSLV include India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe and the Mars Orbiter Mission.

PSLV was designed and developed in the early 1990s at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

After some delays, the PSLV first launched on 20 September 1993. The first and second stages performed but an attitude control problem led to the collision of the second and third stages at separation, and the payload failed to reach orbit. After this initial setback, the PSLV successfully completed its second mission in 1994. The fourth launch of PSLV suffered a partial failure in 1997, leaving its payload in a lower than planned orbit. Since then, the PSLV has launched 24 times with no further failures. ISRO has envisaged a number of variants of PSLV to cater to different mission requirements. There are currently three operational versions of the PSLV — the standard (PSLV), the core-alone (PSLV-CA) without the six strap-on booster motors, and the (PSLV-XL) version, which carries more solid fuel in its strap-on motors than the standard version.These configurations provide wide variations in payload capabilities ranging from 3800 kg in LEO to 1800 kg in a sun-synchronous orbit.

PSLV-C23 was launched at 9:52 a.m. FIST] on 30 June 2014. It carried five foreign satellites – SPOT-7, NLS-7.1 (CanX-4), NLS-7.2 (CanX-5), AISat and VELOX- 1. All five satellites were released successfully. The launch was attended by Prime minister Narendra Modi, the 15th Prime Minister of India. The lift-off time was originally planned to be at 9.49 a.m.[IST], but was later rescheduled to 9:52 a.m. [1ST] due to debris getting in the trajectory.

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