Gujarat News, Gujarati News, Latest Gujarati News, Gujarat Breaking News, Gujarat Samachar.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to reach a major milestone with a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle mission in January that will mark the 100th launch from the Sriharikota spaceport.

ISRO Chairman S Somanath said that Monday’s PSLV-C60 mission, the 99th launch from Sriharikota, successfully deployed two spacecraft for the Space Docking Experiment in a circular orbit.

“As you have all witnessed the spectacular lift-off and launch of the SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) rocket, this is the 99th launch of any vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, which is also a significant milestone for us. Therefore, we plan to launch the 100th launch at the beginning of the next year,” he said.

Somanath, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space, was speaking to the media following the successful circular orbiting of Space Docking Experiment spacecraft A and B by the PSLV-C60 mission.

“In 2025, we will have many missions to start with the GSLV launching the (navigation satellite) NVS-02 in the month of January,” Somanath noted in reference to upcoming launches that ISRO has planned.

The GSLV-F12/NVS-01 rocket was successfully equipped with a navigation satellite by ISRO in May 2023. The NVS-01 navigation satellite, which weighed around 2,232 kg, was successfully launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) by this GSLV rocket.

Of the second-generation satellites planned for the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) services, the NVS-01 was the first.

Somanath said he hoped the scientists will do a lot more space docking experiments in the days ahead. 

“With (India’s) space sector reforms and increase of space operations, it is a highly essential task. In days to come, there will be a lot more SpaDeX variations, including intricate docking system tasks,” he indicated.

According to Somanath, scientists conducted a conjunction study to see whether a satellite entering an orbit passes very close to another satellite while in the same orbit, which is why the PSLV-C60 rocket was rescheduled from its original 9.58 pm to 10 pm on December 30.

“We must slightly relocate the current satellite if you discover any close proximity (between satellites). We can either postpone the launch or make it earlier to avoid this proximity condition,” he explained.

He stated that scientists spent time determining the optimal timing to launch for liftoff and the greatest distance to be from the other satellite in orbit. 

Also Read: Boeing Shares Drop Following Jeju Air 737-800 Crash in South Korea