Smooth countdown for ISRO's launch of six Singaporean satellites

Chennai, Dec 16: The countdown for the launch of six Singaporean satellites using an Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is progressing smoothly at the rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, a senior Indian space agency official said. "The countdown is progressing smoothly without any hitch. The rocket is slated to blast off at 6 p.m. today (Wednesday) with six Singaporean satellites," a senior official of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS. Sriharikota is around 80 km from here. Apart from launching the six foreign satellites, ISRO will also be testing the rocket's fourth stage/engine's ability to restart after it is cut-off around 17 minutes into the flight. Technically speaking, India will be testing a multiple burn fuel stage/rocket engine for the first time. "The restart and shut off of the fourth stage engine is done as a first step towards launching multiple satellites but in different orbits," a senior ISRO official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told IANS. The PSLV rocket is a four stage/engine rocket powered by solid and liquid fuel alternatively. Out of the six satellites, the 400 kg earth observation satellite called TeLEOS-1 is the main passenger for the PSLV rocket and hence the mission is called TeLEOS mission by ISRO. TeLEOS-1 is Singapore's first commercial earth observation satellite designed and developed by ST Electronics. The other five co-passenger satellites are VELOX-C1 (123 kg), VELOX-II (13 kg), Kent Ridge-1 (78 kg), Galassia (3.4 kg) and Athenoxat-1. The December 16 mission will be the last rocket launch mission for ISRO in 2015. So far in 2015, ISRO has launched 14 satellites (three Indian and 11 foreign) from its rocket port in Sriharikota. Thirteen satellites were launched with PSLV rocket and one communication satellite - GSAT-6-with geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV).