After nine years of wait, the historical satellite, ‘Pratham’, the first-ever satellite designed and developed by the students of IIT-Bombay will be launched on September 26.
The satellite will be launched only 18 days after successfully launching a weather satellite, Insat-3DR.
The satellite will be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C35), on its 37th flight, at 9:12 a.m on Monday, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, ISRO said. It will be the first time that the highly proven four-stage PSLV will be launching satellites into two different orbits.
The ‘Pratham’ or ‘ScatSat-1’ is the first satellite programme started by students in the country. It will be sent for five years to study oceans and weather. Apart from Pratham, the other co-passenger satellites are from the US, Canada, Algeria and one of a Bengaluru-based institution. The satellite is called Pisat.
The main satellite will be placed into a 720-km polar sun synchronous orbit. The scientific studies from the satellite will help to correct errors in communication like the GPS and will also help in tsunami warnings.