Nellore: The countdown commenced on Wednesday for the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C50 to place the communication satellite CMS-01 in orbit. The rocket is scheduled to blast off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at the Sriharikota range at Nellore district 3.41 pm on Thursday.
The satellite is envisaged to provide services to the extended C-Band to cover the Indian mainland, Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands. CMS-01 wil be India’s 42nd communications satellite and the PSLV-C50 the 22nd flight of the rocket in the ‘XL’ configuration with strap-on motors. This will be the 77th launch vehicle mission from the SDSC.
Shar officials said that the operation to fill fuel into different stages of the vehicle is going on. Indian Space Research Organisation has arranged for live telecast of the launch through Doordarshan at 3.10 pm on Thursday besides livestreaming it on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
