CHENNAI: The stage is set for launch of sixth navigation satellite IRNSS-1F on board the home grown PSLV-C32 rocket from the spaceport of Sriharikota, about 100 km from here, at 1600 hrs tomorrow.
The 54 hr 30 min countdown, which began at 0930 hrs yesterday morning, was progressing smoothly, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sources said today.
The PSLV-C32, in its 34th flight, would lift off from Second Launch Pad at 1600 hrs tomorrow evening. The propellant filling operations in the fourth stage of the vehicle has been completed, the sources added.
About 20 minutes after the lift off, the workhorse launch vehicle PSLV-C32, will inject the 1425 kg IRNSS-1F, in the sub Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (sub GTO), with a 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 equator.
The sources said IRNSS-1F, with a life span of 12 years, is the sixth navigation satellite of the constellation of seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space segment.
Once the seven satellites were launched into the space, India would join the elite group of nations to have its own navigational system that would be on par with the GPS of the United States.
The last and seventh satellite of this constellation, IRNSS-1G, was also scheduled to be launched by PSLV by the end of this month, to complete the entire Phase 1 IRNSS constellation.
After injection into the preliminary orbit, the two solar panels of IRNSS-1F would be automatically deployed in quick succession and the Master Control Facility at Hassan takes control of the satellite and perform the initial orbit raising manoeuvres consisting of one manoeuvre at perigee and three at apogee using the onboard Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM), to finally place it in the geostationary orbit at 32.5 deg E.
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