Nellore: In yet another feather to its cap, India’s most dependable Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C32 successfully launched the sixth navigation satellite IRNSS-1F in the orbit with text book precision as per schedule at 4 PM from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SDSC, Shar, Sriharikota, 90 km from here on Thursday.
The PSLV-C32 in its 34th flight injected the 1425 kg IRNSS-1F after a flight duration of about 20 minutes, in the sub Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (sub GTO), close the planned perigee of 284 km (nearest point to earth) and an apogee of 20,657 km (farthest point to earth) with an inclination of 17.86 deg to the equatorial plane.
Read: President, PM congratulate ISRO scientists for successful launch
Scientists at the mission control room were seen greeting each other. A beaming ISRO Chairman AS Kirankumar has congratulated the Scientists involved in the successful launch.
As on date, ISRO has launched six regional navigational satellites (IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID , 1E and 1F) as part of a constellation of seven satellites to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region, extending up to an area of 1,500 km.
PSLV-C32 was the thirty-third consecutively successful mission of PSLV and the eleventh time ‘XL’ configuration was flown. Its predecessors, IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and I E which were launched by PSLV-C22, PSLV-C24, PSLV-C26, PSLV-C27 and PSLV-C31 in July 2013, April 2014, October 2014, March 2015 and January this year.
While the sixth satellite was launched on Thursday, the seventh one-IRNSS-1G- is likely to be launched in the last week of April 2016. According to ISRO officials each IRNSS satellite costs about Rs 150 crore and the launch vehicle Rs 130 crore.
Already the existing five IRNSS satellites demonstrated position accuracy of better than 20 metres over 24 hours of the day and the sixth one launched on Thursday further enhance the accuracy, a ISRO scientist said.
